Yucca 'Golden Sword'
Yucca flaccida 'Golden Sword' · Asparagaceae
A rosette of sword-shaped leaves, each with a broad, bright yellow centre and a green edge, and tall stems of creamy bells in summer.
- Size
- 2½ ft tall, 3 ft wide
- Zones
- 4 to 10
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Late June to mid July
- Pets
- Toxic (mild)
- Job in a bed
- Specimen
A bed built around yucca 'Golden Sword'
The planner designed this bed around yucca 'Golden Sword' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why yucca 'Golden Sword' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Yucca 'Golden Sword' × 1, white
- 2 Sea thrift × 6, pink
- 3 Sedum 'Lidakense' × 24, pink
- 4 False sunflower 'Summer Nights' × 3, yellow
- 5 Little bluestem 'The Blues' × 5, tan
- 6 Spurge 'Blackbird' × 3, purple leaves
- 7 Star of Persia × 3, purple
- 8 Hyacinth × 10, blue
Why this plant
- The only bold leaves here. The rest are fine and medium. A change of leaf keeps plants distinct when nothing is in flower.
- The only bells. The others are globes, dense clusters, daisies and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only white. White sits between stronger colours and calms them.
Why here
- At the back. At 2½ ft it is seen over sedum 'Lidakense' (4 in) in front of it, and has nothing behind it to hide.
- A step in the back row. Next to little bluestem 'The Blues' (3 ft) and false sunflower 'Summer Nights' (3½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for five weeks. From late June to mid July.
- In company. With star of Persia in late June: 2 kinds at once.
- One of three evergreens. They are what the bed has to show from November to March.
Planned as an English border: 4 of the 6 groups (67%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The front edge is finished with sedum 'Lidakense' and sea thrift. Cool colours (pink, purple and blue) with yellow as the warm note, and white and tan to calm things between them.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 5 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where yucca 'Golden Sword' goes in a border
At 2½ ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium (24 in to 2½ ft).
Its job: specimen. A feature plant with a shape of its own. It stands alone with room around it, and repeats only at a distance.
The gold-centred yucca: brighter in a planting than 'Color Guard' is from a distance, and as tough. A year-round focal point for the driest spot.
- A year-round accent in dry soil
- Gravel gardens
- Containers
What to plant with yucca 'Golden Sword'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Sedum 'Autumn Joy': takes over when it finishes, flowering from mid August; happy in the same dry soil.
- Blue fescue: its blue-green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; fine leaves against its bold ones; low enough (10 in) to stand in front of it.
- Russian sage: in flower together for two weeks, from mid July; fine leaves against its bold ones; tall enough (4 ft) to stand behind it.
Questions about yucca 'Golden Sword'
Does yucca 'Golden Sword' need sun or shade?
Yucca 'Golden Sword' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does yucca 'Golden Sword' grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 10. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does yucca 'Golden Sword' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late June to mid July. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Late June to late July |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late June to mid July |
| Zone 6 | Late June to mid July |
| Zone 7 | Mid June to mid July |
| Zone 8 | Mid June to mid July |
| Zone 9 | Early June to early July |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should yucca 'Golden Sword' be planted?
2½ ft (80 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 3 ft (90 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 2½ ft (75 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many yucca 'Golden Sword' plants do I need?
At 2½ ft apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 2 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 4 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 5 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one, with clear ground around it: a feature plant is seen as an object, and a group of them is a thicket.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is yucca 'Golden Sword' poisonous to dogs and cats?
Yes: mild toxicity to dogs, cats and horses. Can cause vomiting and diarrhoea in pets if eaten.
Rated from NC State Extension and the ASPCA. Where references disagree, the more cautious rating is used.
Is there a pet-safe plant like yucca 'Golden Sword'?
These come closest to doing what yucca 'Golden Sword' does, and no toxicity is recorded for them:
- Abelia 'Kaleidoscope': the same job in a bed and the same colour; 4 in wider, flowers mid June to early October.
- New Jersey tea: the same flowering time and the same colour; a drift, not a specimen, 6 in taller.
- Blue oat grass: the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; 8 in narrower, tan, not white.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat yucca 'Golden Sword'?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What flowers after yucca 'Golden Sword'?
Yucca 'Golden Sword' is over by mid July. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Sedum 'Autumn Joy': from mid August to mid October, 24 in tall (a recorded partner).
- Russian sage: from mid July to mid September, 4 ft tall (a recorded partner).
- Black-eyed Susan: from mid July to mid September, 24 in tall.
What does yucca 'Golden Sword' look like in winter?
Yucca 'Golden Sword' keeps its variegated and chartreuse leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone.
Is yucca 'Golden Sword' good for bees and butterflies?
Yucca 'Golden Sword' is visited by bees, butterflies, moths and songbirds.
It is native to the United States (this is a named variety of the native plant).
More Yucca
- Adam's needle Yucca filamentosa
- Soapweed yucca Yucca glauca
- Yucca 'Color Guard' Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard'
In these guides
- Garden plants toxic to cats
- Garden plants toxic to dogs
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants for bees
- Plants that feed garden birds
- Evergreen shrubs for structure
- Shrubs under 4 feet for small gardens
Zone guides: Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8 · Zone 9
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 2½ ft (75 cm) tall, 3 ft (90 cm) wide
- Plant
- 2½ ft (80 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium (24 in to 2½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Late June to mid July; hanging bells; white, cream
- Leaves
- Bold texture, evergreen; variegated, chartreuse
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 10
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Lean, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Asparagaceae
- Comes from
- Eastern North America
- Attracts
- Bees, butterflies, moths, songbirds
- Stands up to
- Deer, drought, poor soil
Checked against NC State Extension, ASPCA poison lists and VASCAN (plants of Canada). Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.