Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
rate this answer
Sunday - January 29, 2012
From: Santa Monica, CA
Region: California
Topic: Seed and Plant Sources, Cacti and Succulents
Title: Wholesale dry yucca trunks and branches from California
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
Where can I buy wholesale dry yucca trunks and branches? I have spent the last hour looking for them and can only find nurseries and decorative branches.ANSWER:
Okay, you have won the Stump Mr. Smarty Plants Award for this week. We can only wonder what in the world you need with those. However, since we can't have a conversation, we will hunt around and see what we can find. We're not sure there is such a thing as a wholesaler of what is basically waste material from clearing an area. The landscapers clearing it would probably be delighted to get rid of it, but the chances of that advancing into regular commerce strikes us as a little poor. However, if there is a specific purpose for this kind of material, such as fibers for crafts or medicinal uses, there might well be a commercial source.
Trying to educate ourselves, we first found this article from Texas Beyond History on the many uses of yucca. It's very interesting but had no "used yucca" sources listed. From New Mexico University is a listing of resources on Medicinal Plants of the Southwest. All have contact information and some might be willing to share their sources with you. From a website Primitive Ways, we found this article Natures General Store: The Yuccas and Agave.
Frankly, we don't think we could find anything that might be of use. Our customer questions ordinarily involve the growth, protection and propagation of plants native to North America, and this seems to be outside of our experience. Sorry we couldn't help you find secondhand yucca.
More Cacti and Succulents Questions
Information about ice plant (Carpobrotus edulis)
May 06, 2008 - I recently planted some Carpobrotus edulis, Ice plant, and wanted to know if I can mulch or put stones around the entire garden and plants. They are a ground cover plant.
view the full question and answer
Repotting non-native Agave ghiesbreghtii from Spring TX
June 03, 2012 - I've recently purchased an Agave ghiesbreghtii, and will need to re-pot it soon.
I have some cactus soil mix as well as a few rocks to put in the bottom of its new pot. There seem to be roots comi...
view the full question and answer
Care of Spanish Dagger (Yucca treculeana) after blooming
May 27, 2007 - I live in Austin and have a 5 ft spanish dagger in my backyard. Now that it has bloomed and the flowers have withered in May, should I cut off the center stalk or will it bloom again from the same st...
view the full question and answer
Non-native hylocereus undatus for Austin
February 24, 2012 - Can we plant Hylocereus (Dragon Fruit) here in Austin, TX? We are going to have a large xeriscape bed and want to know what all we can put in it. We are new to Texas so we have no clue what grows here...
view the full question and answer
Loss of agaves to freezing weather in Austin
March 04, 2011 - Dear Mr. Smarty Plants:
I live in Austin and lost all my agaves in the subfreezing weather this winter. Around town, I've noticed some agaves that seemed to tolerate the cold just fine and other tha...
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |