Sometimes my Botanical Resonance project takes an interesting, serendipitous twist and turn, leading me to unexpected wisdom. The Yucca plant has been that way. When I started dyeing paper at home with plants, I never expected to be working so closely with Yucca, since the plant was never mentioned in the plant-dye knowledge I dug into.
I have known Yucca for a long time, ever since I lived on the cliffside of Eaton Canyon in Altadena back in the mid-2000s. I would frequently take the narrow downhill trail to the bottom of Eaton Canyon with my dog and meander through the canyon to the waterfall to decompress from the stressful, workaholic-infused life I used to lead. Even though I was living near Eaton Canyon and appreciated nature so much, I had very little awareness of what naturally grew in Southern California, but I always loved the fragrance of various native sages and the cycle of dry and wet months that creates dramatic seasonal shifts in the canyon.
The Yucca’s spikey leaves were always present, and I quickly learned to avoid getting too close when I bushwhacked. I’m sure my dog did too. I never thought much of Yucca aside from “something to avoid” for many months, until one day I approached the same trail I had walked many times to find a towering white bloom growing straight from the plant. It looked so foreign, and I vividly remember being simultaneously so surprised and in awe of its beauty. For a month or so, I frequented the same spot to greet the same Yucca flowers, only to find one day, the towering blossoms completely browned and fallen sideways, marking the end of its blooming season.
Fast forward a few decades to when we relocated to Topanga back in 2021, I reconnected with Yucca, since it is one of the essential plant species in the Santa Monica Mountains. Compared to my first encounter in the 2000s, my knowledge of native plants has widened, and I have become aware that Yucca plays an important role in the natural ecosystem and for indigenous people. With a heightened sense of new connections, I enjoyed an occasional brush against their spiky leaves rather than completely avoiding them, and witnessing their gorgeous flowers from late spring to early summer. Then sometime in April of this year. Coco came home with a Yucca leaf she harvested on the school campus to make cordage for her teacher. As she pounded the leaf with a rock in a shallow bowl of water to soften the fiber, the color of fresh green seeped out. Knowing that I was obsessed with finding colors in various plants, she saved the water for me so I could make a notebook with Yucca plant magic.
With the Botanical Resonance process, there is a lot of waiting time between steps. Ink made with plants patiently waits in the jar in the refrigerator until I find the perfect late afternoon to dye paper. Dye-immersed paper needs time to dry outside. The glue used to bind the front cover and signature pages needs time to cure. Once I fold each sheet that goes in the signature, they are pressed for several days to settle the creases. So for the last two months or so, Yucca’s energy has been with me at all times as I worked through these steps to create Botanical Resonance with this very special plant. During this phase, every time I pass another Yucca on a trail, I pause, take photos, and look for connections, wisdom, and unspoken lessons I was trying to uncover.
And here is the essence of the Yucca plant story I decided to share with our Botanical Resonance journal on our website.
Plant Story of Yucca (color variation in light to olive green): With incredibly spiky leaves and a stunning white bloom, Yucca is distinct from a distance. Yucca often stands tall on the south-facing hills of the Santa Monica Mountains, where the sun exposure is strongest. Being able to make cordage from Yucca leaf fibers for everyday use is a generous gift from the plants. When Yucca blooms brightly in towering displays in early summer, they look like torches - unapologetically lit, tall, and strong. Yucca is a guardian of healthy boundaries and encourages us to stay in authentic energy.
I just finished producing a limited-edition copy of the Botanical Resonance journal highlighting the wisdom of Yucca. I was only able to make a handful because that’s how much paper I could dye with the initial ink Coco gave me back in April. Since I don’t wild-harvest Yucca leaf, I am not sure if I will create another round of journals with them. I wanted to share this story with you today in case the Yucca’s plant story resonates with you and you would like its companion during your analogue moments.
For me, the most important lessons of Yucca are threefold: maintaining healthy boundaries while being unapologetically authentic, and being a genuine contributor to a community. I find it’s easy to focus on one or two of these three aspects of a relationship, but challenging to balance all three simultaneously. Yucca shows us how that can be done with such integrity and beauty.
I hope Yucca plants bring inspiration and delight to your day, whether through BK’s Botanical Resonance journals, the photos and stories in this post, or via an encounter on a local trail.