Immediately, looking at my garden I want to tell you about Myrsine africana, but I already gave you its portrait in January 2026, where I praised its winter appeal!
I will therefore not start its description again, so I will tell you, directly, its resistance to drought and the scorching sun. I adopted two myrsines about twenty years ago. One is in the open ground, sumptuous and wise at the same time. So perfect. The other lives in a 35 cm pot. Never repotted, never surfaced – I know, it’s not good –, never protected in winter, and practically never watered.
Maybe three or four times during these thirty-eight days without a drop of rain in my house, and she’s frisky! If you have noticed plants that are remarkable in the face of temperature, and which do not burn, do not hesitate to share your experiences.
Yuccas, for their sculptural silhouette… But not only that!
I am going to describe two plants that live in a neighbor’s house. Two yuccas! If your soil is well drained, here are plants to adopt for the future. They immediately give a very graphic character to the garden, while requiring very little care.
The most common, Yucca aloifolia, is hardy to -12°. Stiff, spicy… It’s true that yucca is only a dream for fans of succulent plants. But when the huge flower spikes are there at the end of summer, it’s such a spectacle! Aloe-leaved yucca is native to the southern United States and Mexico.
If you like plants with an exotic look, don’t hesitate to adopt one, provided you have a real place to offer it: it needs space – 4 m in all directions at least -, and above all to be away from a place of passage, because the sharp points of its leaves are formidable. Some gardeners, as a precaution, cut off each leaf tip. Do not place it where children can play.
It tolerates drought, wind, pollution and sea spray. Sun, drained soil, this is what it likes. It appreciates sandy soils, its preferred environment. You can recover the shoots that are around the edge of the clump after two or three years. But then, be careful, protect your hands and arms with thick clothing when handling anything, and don’t forget your glasses! It is in isolation, if you offer it a large space, that it expresses all its beauty and power.
Good to know for curious foodies
The flowers are edible! Ivory, tinged with pink, fleshy, exquisite, they go well with both savory and sweet flavors. As they are shaped like large bells, more like tulips with their heads down, don’t hesitate to stuff them with various spreads, savory for an aperitif, sweet for dessert or a snack.
They are lovely spread out in a salad, where they bring chewiness, and various flavors, floral as a top note, then very quickly the green walnut gives the heart note.
Yucca rostrata, with a thousand thin leaves
If you’re not a fan of stiff plants, you can change your mind about yuccas by discovering Yucca rostrata, so graphic, often planted in gravel and pebble gardens. Its thousand fine, narrow, bluish leaves, arranged in a dazzling spray, fear neither the bright sun, nor the drought, nor the cold (it is hardy down to – 12°C, or even – 15°C).
It is a plant with a future in the face of global warming, provided that it is planted in drained soil, because its worst enemy is humidity. Young, and it stays that way for a long time because its growth is slow, it grows in a ruffled, very dense ball. Then over the years, a trunk appears, sometimes double, which rises to 3 to 4 meters high, covered with a tutu of dry leaves, and a large crown of green leaves. But that’s for much later.
In the meantime, take advantage of this shaggy tuft, always neat, being careful not to place it in a frequent passage, or in the children’s corner, because its tips are sharp. As a centerpiece of a rock garden, for example, isn’t it perfect?
