Somebody just found two of 'em and hauled 'em home.

One is like the adam's needle - the kind I've got in that arrangement I found in the driveway.

The other is something like it but the leaves curl in at the bottom.

I haven't taken pics yet. And they'll need a proper potting - neither had pots - Symon just brought them home in pots he had on his truck.

I don't think either of them over winter outdoors - and one of them I doubt would continue on indoors.

But . . .

Any guesses before I take pics tomorrow?

To me they look what they'd call a "Spike Plant"
I've only seen them as indoor plants..

Both are spikes?

The one, I'm sure is adam's needle . . . the really spiky one.

The other, I dunno'.

Anyway, guess I can call them the spike plants and be done with it.

I brought one in, soil and all - hoping there's no bugs - I'll keep an eye on it.

The other one just had its root ball, so I put some of my now famous mulch (compost) in there just to hold it till I can pot it tomorrow - I got two more big bags of potting soil, but too pooped to do it - 2 doctors appts today and just the energy of all that info back and forth has worn me out.

Rain very very soon - it's out there, ominous, dark, like something you can reach out, grab a handful.

Carly,
The on'es I know of that are called is a Yucca plant *growing zone down to 3 or 4* the other Spike plant is a tropical sorts.. **although I do know it can be *under the right conditions* over wintered**

Okay, here's the Adam\'s Needle (Yucca filamentosa)
and here's the Super Spike/Botanical Name: "Cordyline indivisa"

To me, it doesn't look like the Yucca...
Yucca's usually have something that looks like
"threads or strings" pulling or peeling off the sides of the spiked leaves' area....
Yours don't appear to...

I agree with Weezie in that they look like what are called "spike" plants here. They are usually sold in the spring here as center accent pieces for large outdoor flower pots. I have overwintered spikes successfully indoors - they can get VERY large!

I always thought they were in the dracaena family, but Weezie's link sure looks right to me!

I've seen spikes usually potted together with geraniums, the spikes are in the middle and the geraniums surrond them, it looks quite nice actually.

I know Yucca as Adams Needle too. Carly- "Spikes" are what they sell around here and use for pots etc like the other one you found and like these two.

I forgot to add that Spikes are annual and Yucca is a perennial.
I overwinter my Spikes every year and they are getting quite large.

What you guys call "spikes" we call draceana at the garden center. I've found the names are interchangable but we're all talking about the same thing. Cordyline indivisa IS what I call draceana. It is not yucca, like Weezie said if it was yucca you would see all the threads on it.

i thought all yucca had those 'threads' on the leaves and i thought all yucca had sharp edges on the leaves too...

not so! i did a trade with netwiz for some of her yucca - which is the adam's needle - and it looks very similar to draceana as it doesn't have those threads hanging off the leaves.

from the growth pattern, i'd say these two are draceana and not yucca...

what kind of root system do they have?

OK - spikes it is. Good enough for me, anyway. I couldn't possibly expect to over-winter them outside in this climate.

So they'll both be indoors - if they make it, they nmake it - if they don't, they don't.

Something tells me they'll be ok, though.

Right now, the spike that I left outside, with the compost packed around it, is getting lots of rain.

If I can work between the raindrops tomorrow, I'll put it in the potting soil and bring it in tomorrow.

I never thought I'd feel this way, but I'm kinda' glad the season's coming to a close. I need to detach from the gardening.

There's other things I want to cultivate right now - some neighbourhood journalizing, travelling around the city a bit.

I'm going to enjoy raising my plants indoors, of course - I always enjoy that - my twice a week watering, picking and trimming up. I love going out to the office and the lobby and tending to my plants in the winter.

I like to sit in the office and meditate in their presence.