Mexican grass plant
This is frost tender, yucca-like, succulent which is native to Mexico. Here it grows in dry mountains areas and deserts. So, in the UK, very much a plant for a heated greenhouse or, if grown outside on a hot sunny patio, definitely a plant to be brought inside for the winter. Only in the mildest seaside location in a very well drained and hot location does this plant stand a chance outside.
This plant eventually becomes tree-like but, even in immaturity, the stiff 4 angled, slightly fleshy, olive green leaves have spiny edges and pointed tips. Not something that one would want to risk falling into. In maturity, the individual leaves can grow up to 5 feet long, in a dense and tight rosette on a trunk of perhaps 3 feet in height. The gigantic inflorescences can be 10-15 feet tall and covered with bell shaped white flowers. These appear in the summer.
Under glass these plants need to be grown in a mixture of loam, sand and leaf moulder peat or a substitute. Low humidity and full light is essential. Water freely in spring and summer but leave on the dry side throughout the winter. Beware of scale insect infections.
