Yucca brevifolia - Joshua Tree Flowering

Fast facts:
Seedlings of Joshua trees will stop growing and die if the don't get some frost their first winter. Young plants send out rhizomes that might make groves like this, but in their native Mojave desert, a kind of beetle chews off the rhizomes, so that solitary trees are the rule there.

looking lovely in its own way.

Lovely shot Delonix!

Interesting facts Tubrethil.

My Joshua Tree fact:Almost 25 years on and still possibly the greatest album ever recorded!!!

Tugbrethil:

That's very interesting...because this garden never sees a frost. In fact, low temps below 45 degrees F. / 8 degrees C. in winter are pretty rare in this garden.

I do know in the Majave desert (high desert) where they're native it gets very cold and occasionally snows. It's very different from the subtropical Sonoran desert where you live.

There's million of Joshua trees in Mojave desert on the way out to Las Vegas, NV. I've done that drive many times. : > )

Camillia, Meanie:

Thanks! : > )

Thanks for this, D1, by this picture there are new shoots in the foreground that exactly like the plant I have and in the background the blooms are identical as well...I think what I have must be a Y. brevifolia, because as I've said on my pics, it survived a winter here in S.E. Canada. Does day length/ amount of sunlight during the winter months make a difference too? D1 and Tugbrethil, thanks for your dialogue...this will help me keep my little Joshua trees after the move and over the winter!!!
LoL.. U2, Meanie!

Meanie: OK, now I've got to look that up, too! Sometimes it's a curse to be so curious (one way or another!)

Delonix: The seedlings would only need one cold treatment to keep growing, which could have been done at whichever grower they got them from. One thing that I have noticed here, is that they bloom better after a cold winter.

Lori: The ones blooming aren't Joshua trees. Delonix would have to confirm, but I think that they are Y. mojavensis? In your area, any Yucca is likely to be an Adam's Needle (Yucca filamentosa).

LOL...thanks Tugbrethil...Adam's needle. Y. filamentosa. The Y. filamentosa has found it's way on the wild flower lists here in Ontario... very interesting and tough plant. It's been interesting reading.

Tugbrethil:

Yucca brevifolia - Joshua tree has naturalized in many areas in San Diego in Balboa Park. They grow, bloom very well here without the frost and cold temps. I guess they don't seem to need it here. : > )

LOL... they are like retired Canadians! snow birds. decided that they like the warmth in San Diego and are only too happy to not have to deal with frost!!

Weeelll, I've got to admit that my info is from my college days, 30+ years ago, and Heaven knows how long ago the text was written! Just to test my other info, do they form single trees, or do they form clumps and thickets there?

Tugbrethil:

The are propagated by seeds and clumping. : > )

OK, so the beetle phenomenon is hopefully correct!

I was just browsing the internet, looking at desert pictures, and those Y. brevifolia at Balboa Park look suspiciously like Y. valida, from Baja California, instead. If all of the ones in the San Diego area are sparsely branched like these, they may be the same species, also. That would account for there apparent lack of a need for winter chilling, too.

Tugbrethil:

It does look very much like Yucca valida. All the Yucca are sparsely branched like in this photo. That would definitely explain the reason why these trees grow and don't need a frost.