I’d be remiss if I did not state I’m a bit behind on my usual seasonal flower photography posts. Familiarizing myself with what blooms when in the new neighborhood and has been time consuming – but in a good way. It’s definitely different that hitting the resident gardens I had become used too.
That being said, I’ve decided to begin with these beautiful blooming Yucca flowers. I’ve written about Yucca plants before. For a quick overview:
“Yucca is a genus of perennial shrubs and trees in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40–50 species are notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large terminal panicles of white or whitish flowers.”
Being drought-tolerant, they do well in rocky gardens, can tolerate cold and snow and are perfectly suited for this landscape. These bell-shaped beauties were some serious lookers!
They are likely most known and or recognizable for their architectural forms with straight, spiny succulent leaves radiating out from a single point. However, it’s the Yucca flowers that really captivated me this season.
The blooming Yucca plants I’d come across at the gardens in my previous location in Colorado would quickly get hammered with aphids! But in and around my new location in Santa Fe, I’ve been fortunate enough to capture these flowers undisturbed by pets – yay!!
Yucca Flowers with Hints of Purple and Blush Pink
I had only seen Yucca flowers in their white or ivory color. But little did I know that they can be hinted with shades of purple, blush pink and even soft greens.
When coming across these flowers in their various shades, I was actually in search of other blooming cactus plants. But seeing these beauties made me stop in my tracks and take notice AND photos. They were well worth it!
Some I came across wandering around the neighborhood. I was even blessed with a little ladybug that was hanging out on one of the flower petals. Its orange color is such a contrast against the soft ivory flower.
The majority of other bloomers were discovered while attempting to retrace some of the trails I used to frequent when I lived in Santa Fe before.
The following photos are a compilation of my endeavors.
Hail Be Gone…
My timing happened to be quite ideal for these blooming plants. As it turned out a few days later we were hit with a nasty hail storm. Sadly many of the Yucca flowers got decimated by the hail.
Mother Nature can often be cruel, not to mention the weather patterns appear to be rather different that when I lived here before. Climate change? YUP!
For the record, hail is NOT your friend when you’re a flower photographer! I’m glad to have stopped and taken photos of these flowering succulents when I did 🙂