PlantFiles: Soapweed, Soapwell, Bear Grass, Great Plains Yucca
Yucca glauca

I was at a home showing with my realtor in New Franklin, PA when I saw a clump of three yuccas with narrow, grassy leaves and 1 to 2 ft tall trunks. I decided to head over here to ID them, and it looks like they are Y. glauca (Palm Bob's first pic is almost a dead ringer for them).

The garden they were growing in, like the house and much of the rest of the property, unfortunately, had been neglected for a number of years, but the Y. glauca was doing just fine! I decided not to buy the place (because the house was a dump), but I was half-tempted to take one of the Yucca plants. ;)

Therefore I'd say that they are quite hardy and seem to do fine with our typical not-so-well drained soils.

I have a soapweed yucca growing in my south-facing flowerbed. It seems to be doing well in the dry clay soil. Now in its second year, it's slow-growing and hasn't bloomed yet. I would expect it to take some time to get to an appreciable size, given our short summers and long, cold winters.

This yucca grows all over Oklahoma and is native to the area I live. The leaves are very tough and hard to cut especially with a dull pair of clippers. I have one I dug up just outside of town and hasn't bloomed since I have had it but it is much bigger than when I first got it.

I Collected some plants in Montana when I lived there. When I moved to Miami, Florida the plants came with me.

They have been growing well in the ground for the past three years, but haven't bloomed. Guess that I will have to wait for a cold winter!

The species has an interesting spiky look in the landscape. I
think that it is quite attractive.

American Indians used the pounded root as a poultice on inflamations and to stop bleeding. They also used it as a shampoo to cure dandruff and baldness. The leaf juice was used to make poison arrows.

I disagree with palmbob--I find this yucca extremely attractive--attractive enough to merit an "ooh! what's that????" at our local arboretum and a quick trip to a nearby nursery that specializes in dryland plants. It's proven very hardy and very drought-tolerant.

This Yucca is native further north than any other. It grows into Alberta (and Saskatchewan), Canada (Which by the way is zone 3a, with occasional 2b winters. Despite common belief this Yucca does from a trunk. The trunk grows slowly to about 2 feet. It is not monocarpic, as parent plants set seed many times before dieing. I personally can vouch for flowering and seeding of the same plant for 5 seasons.
This is a much better plant than people give it credit for, and its hardiness is UNMATCHED among Yuccas, it is hardier even than Yucca filamentosa and flaccida.

Not a terribly ornamental plant- looks a bit like a clump of grass with slightly spiny ends. Common all over the south and midwest into the plains of the US.