Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

We have two plants in our Native Plant Database with the common name of "Spanish Dagger." Only one of them, Yucca treculeana (Don quixote's lace), is native to Texas so we are going to go with that. This plant grows natively somewhat south of Williamson County, but is known to survive in USDA Hardiness Zone 7, so the temperature should be all right where you are for this plant. It is a member of the Agavaceae or Century Plant Family, but unlike some plants referred to as "century plants" it does not bloom once and then die. It is shown in our webpage on this plant as growing usually to about 10 ft. tall, so your plant may just have reached the end of its normal lifespan.

As to where to purchase a replacement, Yucca treculeana  appears on our Plant Sale list. However, this list is subject to constant change, depending on what is available at the time of the sale. The Fall Sale is October 15 and 16, 2011, and we suggest you recheck that list as time for the sale comes closer. Since you live in Georgetown, it would be fairly easy for you to come to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center to shop for that and other plants native to Central Texas. For other possibilities, go to our National Suppliers Directory, and either type "yucca treculeana" in the Name Search Box or your state and town in the Enter Search Location box. Unfortunately, we tried the Name Search and got zero results, so stick with the Search Location, at least for now. You will get a list of native plant nurseries, seed companies and landscape consultants in your general area. All have contact information and/or websites, so you can check for availability. You can also grow your own, see this article from Fine Gardening on Propagating Yucca.

On to care for a replacement. First, decide if replacing the same plant is what you really want to do. Looking once again at our webpage on this plant, you will see that it does well in part shade (2 to 6 hours of sun daily), has medium water use and its soil requirements are:  Sandy, Sandy Loam, Medium Loam, Clay Loam, Clay. We would add to that description the fact that, like all desert plants, this yucca needs extremely good drainage. Since you do not have the sandy soil of a desert environment, you may need to work in decomposed granite or other soils that permit drainage around the roots.