Excalibur forms a neat, rounded clump of blue-green to gray-green sword leaves edged with an unusually large number of curly white threads. It is more uniform and a bit smaller than the wild species, so it fits well into borders and large containers.
In early to midsummer, stout stalks climb 4 to 5 feet tall and carry white bell flowers. It handles heat, drought, poor soil and salt with ease, and deer and rabbits leave it alone.
What it looks like
Rigid, sword-shaped leaves about 1 inch wide in a cool blue-green to powdery gray-green form a symmetrical, spiky, rounded clump. The leaf edges are lined with many fine, curling white threads that catch the light. The foliage clump is 18 to 24 inches tall and 3 to 3½ feet wide. In summer a thick, upright stalk rises 4 to 5 feet tall with a branched cluster of nodding, bell-shaped white flowers about 2 inches long. At peak bloom the white bells form a tall spire over the gray-blue rosette.
Growing it with lavender
Excalibur loves the same hot sun and lean, sharp-draining soil as lavender, and its spiky blue-gray form sets off the soft purple lavender spikes beautifully.
Care
Grow in full sun to part shade in any well-drained soil, including sand and poor soil; water only until established. Hardy in zones 4 to 10. Remove spent flower stalks at the base and tidy old leaves in spring.
At a glance
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Botanical name: Yucca filamentosa
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Flower color: White
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Foliage: Blue-green to gray-green with white threads
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Growth habit: Uniform, spiky, rounded clump
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Mature size: 18–24 in tall × 36–42 in wide
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USDA hardiness zones: 4–10
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Light: full sun, part sun to part shade
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Bloom start: Late-June
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Peak bloom: Mid-July
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Bloom pattern: Single Flush
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Deer resistance: Resistant
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Pollinator value: Fair
Sizes and shipping
Dormant bare-root plant, sold in boxes of 25 per variety (order in multiples of 25). Bare-root plants ship or are picked up March 1–May 31 only. They are soil-free, so they may ship to every state in that window. Dormant plants often show little or no top growth on arrival; plant or heel them in promptly.
Lavender companion · grow guide
Community Grower Report
