When North Carolina State Rep. Shelly Willingham stepped out of his car last Friday at Bear Grass’s Yucca House, the gathering inside the building could see big things were in store for the community.

Bear grass (aka Adam’s needle) is a native evergreen perennial that’s as tough as its name implies. Unrelated to grasses, bear grass is a diminutive yucca (Y. filamentosa) that grows about two feet ...

Get any of our free daily email newsletters — news headlines, opinion, e-edition, obituaries and more. Two particular flowering plants are the toast of late spring and summer in Montana. In the ...