Now for our channel 20 weather report: High 90’s in Albuquerque and wow, that’s some blazing heat. Might be from the fire tracks from Space Dog Farms mix tapes but we get it—it’s hot. It was hot yesterday and hot today and these banana yuccas just don’t seem to care! These drought tolerant stout, sword luscious green sword leaves, have a bloom-stalk within the leaves holding fleshy banana-shaped fruit. Reaching near 3.5 ft tall and spreading 5 ft across—plan on keeping in a large container for a year before putting it out. *stalk gets up to 6ft tall. A great landscaping plant in drought prone areas—we are looking at you Hollywood and where is our Grammy?—with enough spike to be a perfect barrier between your driveway and those pesky pole pet raccoons your neighbor has lurking around. Mum’s the word, the roots are prized for natural soaps (soaps are extremely hard to make/mold/get right consistency—so if you get make them—we give you a big Space Dog tip of the cap.

Start seeds indoor in soft potting soil 1/2”” deep in pot 2.5” or deeper. Roots will shoot out in 4-6 weeks so be patient! We’ve have them germinate sooner so times are variable (best started on heating mat—but can be started in hottest area that gets most light) make sure soil does not dry out! or get too soaked, by misting or lightly flicking pot every day— you can call it a succulent for 3-4 years before it puts out it’s huge flowers—but will keep expanding vegetatively and now back to you Sarah with the local news regarding the prickly pear seeds.