I have been fighting a losing battle for over 16 years and it involves my husband, agave and yucca.

Yucca whipplei

Okay, here is a yucca (above).  One of the many different species that occur throughout the Southwest.

And here is an agave….

Agave americana

Actually, there are also many different species of agave as well.

Here are a few different agaves that I have grown along with my husband in the 25 years that we have been married:

Agave vilmoriniana

Agave parryi

Agave desmettiana (getting ready to flower)

Agave victoria-reginae

So, what is the battle that I am dealing with?

Well, my husband always refers to agave as yuccas.

No matter how often I tell him that we don’t have any yucca in our garden – only agave, he still calls them ‘yuccas’.

He has lived in the Desert Southwest his entire life and still cannot tell the difference.

Now, I really don’t have anything against yuccas….

Yucca baccata

Unlike agave, yuccas can grow very tall and large.

But, I must admit that I prefer agave.

Sometimes when my husband and I are driving down the street, he will point to a flowering agave and call it a ‘yucca’.  And every time, I correct him.  Now, I don’t want you to think that I am the type of person that is always correcting others, but this one thing is a particular sticking point with me.

I’m not sure why.  Maybe it’s because I’m a horticulturist and I am passionate (crazy) about plants?

For awhile I was wondering if my husband just did it to tease me, (like he does about other things).

That is until last weekend, when my father-in-law asked me to prune some of the dead leaves from his yucca….

Agave americana variegata

The only thing is….it wasn’t a yucca.

Now, I know where my husband gets it from…..

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I hope you all have a great weekend!

I will be hibernating indoors this weekend, enjoying the air-conditioning 🙂

The Continuing Adventures of a Landscape Designer….