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Help with choosing and growing Dasylirion


Mauna Kea Cloudforest

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I've gotten interested in Dasylirion, and i was wondering if people in California who have experience with them can share their knowledge. Are these slow growing, and if so, where are the god places to buy landscape specimen sizes. And which ones are good ones to grow?

Thanks,

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Can't comment on these in your climate, but here in So Cal most are easy as can be (even in my arid wind tunnel of Acton many of these do outstandingly well). All but D quadrangularis (supposedly not the same as longissimus, but that argument is a tiresome one) are easy to transplant. We even found a huge D wheeleri in a parking lot in Palmdale that fell over (probably got driven over) and was lying on its side for 6 months desiccating in the summer heat, and still did fine once we planted it. Many Dasylirion are pretty hard to tell apart... there are the flat-leaved, nasty-sharp varieties that come in various shades of blue, blue-green and green and for the life of me I cannot really tell most of the similarly colored ones apart (probably minor floral details). Below are some examples... Have not found too many to be different in terms of growth rate or trouble, save the D quadrangularis type which are a bit faster and probably more tolerant of humid climates.

First two Dasylirion atrotriche, then D miquihuaensis (slightly turquoise), then D leiophyllum (very green), D texana (nearly as green and frankly look the same to me), D glaucophyllum (turquoise but minimally twisted leaves), D berlandieri (user-friendly... rare but worth it since not sharp), then D wheeleri (second most commonly available species... here in Palmdale area can get pretty larges ones for pretty cheap), and last two Dasylirion quadrangulata (or quadrangularis... can't recall which it is right now... OR maybe D longissimus... who knows?)- very common species and the only one that has Xanthorrhoea like leaves (unless D quandrang.. and D longissimus are indeed two separate species).. this last one is very tolerant of wet weather while all the rest prefer it desert-like.

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They do not like wet weather unless you have amazingly good draining soul. They will rot at the base. Xanthorrhoea look very similar but seem to handle wetter conditions more - but again you need good draining soil. I have seen some Xanthorrhoea planted in some pretty shady, regularly irrigated landscapes.

I have a really nice D longissimus flowering in my yard right now. I almost lost it to rot at the base because my irrigation was hitting the trunk and not drying out.

Len

Vista, CA (Zone 10a)

Shadowridge Area

"Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are."

-- Alfred Austin

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D. wheeleri and longissima are the two I use frequently in landscapes, both grow well here in Berkeley. I've never had any issues with rotting them out, but also never use spray irrigation on them. They grow easily if not all that quickly, no irrigation necessary once established, faster growing with more summer heat. Biggest sizes available down south or from Arizona, 24" box sizes are available from wholesale growers. I find 15 gallons size perfectly adequate for instant impact, but not all 15's are equal, I hand select when possible.

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Thanks for all the info, this is great. I've settled for wheeleri and longissima even before I saw David's post, now I feel even more confident in those choices. I am also going to try a smaller texana.

Len, my soil is quite fast draining, and parts of my garden stay dry in the Winter and require irrigation even at the height of the rainy season. The topology collaborating with some large evergreen trees along with fast draining soil creates some serious rain shadows where I should be able to plant these guys and not worry about rot.

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