funifera

It's easy to see why Hesperaloe funifera is such an overlooked plant when you see photographs of it. Certainly it is pleasant enough with yucca-like long dagger leaves in a clump. The flower stalk is easily 8-10 feet tall, and so tall and skinny that it is difficult to photograph with the plant. I've seen this plant referred to as a telephone pole plant, because the flower stalk looks, well, like a telephone pole. The flowers are white and are open only at night. It was once in the Plant Delights catalog, and owner Tony Avent, usually a man of hyperbolic description, described Hesperaloe funifera as a boring plant that although tough and evergreen was something that no one would look at twice (at least that's how I remember it). I noticed that it's not listed on the website any more.

But my impression of it when I first saw it in my friend's yard (landscape architect David Cristiani), it was love at first sight. There are a lot of things to recommend this plant. The stiffly upright leaves are indeed reliable, and green year-round. They form a nice clump, and remain upright as the plant gets older and larger (easily 5 feet tall and 6 feet wide).  When I realized that I couldn't grow Phormium here, I realized this plant would be a great substitute, one with its own qualities. The reason it impressed me weren't those qualities, though. It is that there is a very architectural appearance to the plant, especially with the telephone-pole flowering stalk.  The size of the plant is also impressive.

Although the flowers only open at night, they are distinctly lily-family, and smell of chocolate, similar to the chocolate flower Berlandiera lyrata, if you can get your nose that high. My plant surprised me by blooming this year (top two photos), even thought the plant is still small. Don't rely on photographs to get a sense of this plant. Go to see it in person. There is a nice planting of it at the Coronado mall, near Fuddruckers (above).