May is the bloom month for the Texas native Red Yucca that is so prevalent in Lubbock landscapes. But the common name  is misleading, as it is not a yucca, but rather a Hesperaloe. Hesperaloe parviflora, the Red Yucca, is similar to the true, white yucca as both have sword-shaped, grey-green foliage that emerges from the crown in a rosette pattern.

The arching long spikes of Red Yucca bloom stalks stay upright and maintain their color throughout the summer. The tube-shaped florets attract bees and hummingbirds. It grows best in full sun in loose, well draining gravely soil. Leaves are tough and narrow; the plant is drought tolerant, heat and cold tolerant and is adapted to USDA zones 5–9.

These growth attributes and the distinct floral display make the Red Yucca a popular choice for xeriscapes. Its best landscaping use is grouped and placed as accent plantings. Disadvantages of the Red Yucca are that within a few season’s growth offsets or pups develop, quickly becoming invasive. The long sword-like leaves also can become a repository for leaves and trash.

The most prevalent of the Hesperaloes are the Red Yucca Straight Up Red Texas Yucca cultivar, which produces a summer-long display of red-pink flowers held on strongly upright growing flower spikes.

Coral Glow is a new Hesperaloe cultivar with glowing six-foot coral-orange spikes, which is a cross between yellow- and red-flowered varieties. The cultivar is a High Country Gardens exclusive introduction.

An underused beautiful, uncommon butter-yellow flowered form of Texas Red Yucca is the Flowering Texas Red Yucca. Planted with other Hesperaloes, it creates superb bi-colored combinations.

Hesperaloe cultivars punctuate rock gardens and xeriscapes. They are all easy to grow, make good cut flowers, attract butterflies and hummingbirds, are rabbit resistant, have extended bloom time from early summer into the fall, are natives, evergreen and require little maintenance. All Texas jewels!

AJ reader R.R. of Lubbock asks what should be done when the tops of garlic fall over?

Maturity indicators for harvesting garlic are the leaves. When approaching maturity, the flower stalks of some garlic varieties will remain upright while other varieties without flower stalks will have leaves that topple.

For both kinds of garlic, when leaves topple and begin to dry and turn yellow, stop watering to allow bulbs to fully mature. This allows the papery skins of the cloves to dry. With leaves still attached to the bulbs, lift bulbs. Gently brush off residual soil but do not wash and do not remove the bulb wrappers. Roots can be trimmed.

Curing is essential for long-term storage. Cure harvested garlic under dry conditions with good air circulation, away from direct sunlight and temperatures of 80 degrees. Tie into bunches of about six bulbs and hang bunches onto strings by the leaves. Hanging bulbs ensures all sides of the bulb dry evenly. Allow two weeks to cure. Leaving wrapper leaves intact preserves the garlic flavor.

Some information from highcountrygardens.com and Texas Native Plants Database

ELLEN PEFFLEY taught horticulture at the college level for 28 years, 25 of those at Texas Tech, during which time she developed two onion varieties. She is now the sole proprietor of From the Garden, a market garden farmette. You can email her at gardens@suddenlink.net.