Yucca Adam’s Needle is a yucca that is often used in landscaping. Its beauty adds to any garden. Adam’s Needle can also be potted and it grows in a large part of the U.S. But is it the same as a Color Guard yucca?
The Adam’s Needle and Color Guard is the same plant. Although there are many varieties, it is part of the Filamentosa Linnaes yucca family. Adam’s Needle, Color Guard, is known for thread like filaments that curl around straight leaves. It is capable of blooming and has cream or white flowers.
The Adam’s Needle or Color Guard is an excellent addition to any garden or home. Let’s look at the regions it can grow in, care requirements and reproduction.
Yucca Color Guard (Adam’s Needle) Size
Yucca Filamentosa, also known as Adam’s Needle, Color Guard and Adam’s Thread, are stemless. It has a rosette that can grow up to 4.25 feet, and a clump can spread as much as eight feet wide.
It can be potted and used indoors. Although it may bush out, so make sure you have room. Adam’s Needles are slow growers.
Types of Leaves and Flowers
A Color Guard or Adam’s Needle has leaves around 1.5 feet when fully grown. The leaves are approximately one inch wide. They generally narrow at the base and widen slightly at the end with a rounded shape.
This yucca has flexible leaves and is generally straight. The newer leaves in the rosette center are particularly straight.
The Color Guard has cream leaves that are edged with green. It is striking because of its curling filaments.
The bloom is long and open. Unlike most flowers that open upward, the Color Guard opens downward. This is to accommodate the yucca month.
The Color Guard has a tall flowering stalk that rises from the middle of the rosette. This stalk can grow anywhere from four feet high to 15 feet high.
These flowers are white or cream. Some may have a red or brown tinge.
How to Care for Color Guard (Adam’s Needle)
A Color Guard, Adam’s Needle, does well with moderately rich but well-draining soil. It can also do well in sandy soil. If you are potting a Color Guard, mix some perlite in with the potting soil to help with drainage.
It likes full sun but can tolerate partial shade. It will not thrive in complete shade.
It is excellent in pots. When watering in a pot, give it a good soaking and then let it completely dry out between waterings.
The unique aspect of the Color Guard is its hardiness. It is one of the most cold tolerant yuccas. A Color Guard or Adam’s Needle can tolerate at least -20 degrees Fahrenheit.
Regions Color Guard (Adam’s Needle) is Found
The Color Guard or Adam’s Needle is widespread and has a vast range over the U.S. You can find it from western Florida to Mississippi. It goes as far north as New Jersey. But some have been found in Maine. You can often see Color Guards in the southern midwestern states.
Color Guards can also be found in Great Britain and Europe.
Adam’s Needle, Color Guard Propagation
There are two ways the Color Guard can propagate. The first is by seed. This requires that the Color Guard flower to form the seeds.
The second and most common way to propagate a Color Guard, Adam’s Needle, is to remove the offshoots. You can then pot these offshoots. When removing offshoots, always pot first. This allows the roots to develop before planting them in the ground.
Color Guard as an Ornamental Plant
As one of the oldest and most widespread yuccas, it has been used as an ornamental plant in Europe since the 1600s. American colonists also used Color Guard, Adam’s Needle in their gardens.
There are many variegated varieties that brighten up a solid green garden. It’s also lovely in winter gardens to continue showing that touch of green.
A potted Color Guard looks great on a porch or, when smaller, in a home.
Other Types of Filamentosa
Besides Color Guard, Adam’s Needle, there are other Filamentosa types. The different types of Filamentosa include:
| Filamentosa Varieties | Leaves color and shape |
| Blue Sword | Blue green leaves |
| Bright Edge | Marginal stripes of creamy color |
| Concava Baker | Spoon leaf yucca, broad stiff leaves with a silvery sheen, red tinge in winter |
| Carriere | Erect and tapers in at the end, the outer ends curve backward |
| Bracteata | Long leaves with the outer leaves curving backward |
There are also variegated versions of these leaves. Yucca Filamentosa Variegata Carriere is the general name for types with yellow or white leaf variegation.
Conclusion
Filamentosa Adam’s Needle and Color Guard is the same yucca. It can be added to your garden and or landscaping.
Color Guard, Adam’s Needle is an excellent plant to pot. It’s a lovely addition to a patio or home.