succulent
Adam's needle yucca 'Color Guard'
Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard'
Preview: plant data is awaiting horticulturist review. A professional horticulturist hasn't reviewed our plant table yet. Lists still follow fixed rules for zone, sun, pets, deer and invasive status.
Adam's needle yucca 'Color Guard' is a slow-growing evergreen succulent hardy in zones 4–10. It grows 2–5 ft tall and 2–3 ft wide, so plant it 2.5 ft apart. Give it full sun to part sun and little water once established. It flowers white in June to July. In a FloraVista list it usually plays the grass role: a spiky, upright accent that gives the middle of the bed the line and texture a grass would. It is native to the Southeast, the Mid-Atlantic and Florida and the Gulf. Deer may browse it when other food is short, and it is toxic to dogs and cats.
Facts from our plant table
- Botanical name
- Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard'
- Plant type
- Succulent, evergreen
- Hardiness zones
- 4 to 10
- Sun
- Full sun (6+ hours); Part sun (4–6 hours)
- Water
- Low
- Soil
- Well-drained, sandy or rocky soil.
- Mature size
- 2–5 ft tall × 2–3 ft wide
- Spacing
- 2.5 ft apart (centre to centre)
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Bloom
- Jun–Jul · white
- Roles in a bed
- Grass
- Styles
- low water, modern
- Deer resistance
- Medium: browsed when deer are hungry
- Pets
- Toxic to dogs and cats. ASPCA lists Yucca as toxic to dogs and cats (saponins; vomiting). Leaf tips are sharp.
- Native to
- Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Florida/Gulf
- Pot size and price
- 1-gallon pot, typically $14–$25 (easy to find)
- Plant in
- Spring or Fall
- First-year watering
- Water deeply once or twice a week for the first 6-8 weeks, then every 10-14 days in dry spells through the first summer; after that only in long droughts.
- Pruning
- Remove the flower stalk after bloom and pull dead lower leaves.
Sources: Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder; state extension service fact sheets; ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant list; Rutgers NJAES deer resistance ratings; state extension service; Invasive Plant Atlas of the United States; state noxious weed and invasive plant lists; US garden-centre and home-improvement retail listings (general knowledge, 2026 estimate); USDA PLANTS database; state extension service native plant lists. Not yet reviewed by a horticulturist.
Guides that include this plant
- Low-water plants for a full-sun bed in zone 4
- Low-water plants for a full-sun bed in zone 6 (as a substitute)
- Low-water plants for a full-sun bed in zone 7
- Modern planting for a sunny bed in zone 7 (as a substitute)
- Low-water plants for a full-sun bed in zone 8, Southwest
- Low-water plants for a full-sun bed in zone 9, California (as a substitute)
Good companions
The plants our list engine most often puts in the same bed as Adam's needle yucca 'Color Guard', across the sun, zone, pet, deer and style combinations it fits.
- Mexican bush sageSalvia leucanthaperennial · zones 8–11
- Shrubby cinquefoil (potentilla) 'Goldfinger'Dasiphora fruticosa 'Goldfinger'shrub · zones 2–7
- Stonecrop 'Autumn Joy'Hylotelephium 'Herbstfreude'succulent · zones 3–9
- Lily of the NileAgapanthus africanusperennial · zones 9–10
- Meadow sage 'May Night'Salvia nemorosa 'May Night'perennial · zones 4–8
- Hens and chicksSempervivum tectorumsucculent · zones 3–8
If you can't find it
Substitutes our engine offers for Adam's needle yucca 'Color Guard': same role in the bed, passing the same rules.
- Pink muhly grassMuhlenbergia capillariszones 6–11 · not flagged toxic to pets
- Little bluestem 'Standing Ovation'Schizachyrium scoparium 'Standing Ovation'zones 3–9 · not flagged toxic to pets
- Red yuccaHesperaloe parviflorazones 6–11 · flagged toxic to pets
- Feather reed grass 'Karl Foerster'Calamagrostis × acutiflora 'Karl Foerster'zones 4–9 · not flagged toxic to pets
How this page was made
This page was generated from this plant's record in FloraVista's plant table by fixed rules. The companions and substitutes come from the lists our rules engine composes. No named expert has reviewed this page.
Data status: the plant table is awaiting review by a horticulturist. Check each plant with a local nursery or extension office before you buy.
Sources
- Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder, state extension services and the USDA PLANTS database (zones, size, sun, water, bloom, native range)
- ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists (dog and cat toxicity)
- Rutgers NJAES and regional extension deer-resistance ratings
- State noxious-weed and invasive-plant lists and the Invasive Plant Atlas of the US
- Typical US garden-centre listings (pot size and price band)
Generated . How FloraVista chooses plants