Eremurus
Foxtail lily, Desert candle
- Height × spread
- 1m – 2.2m × 0.3m – 1m
- Position
- Full sun
Availability
Please ask in store about availability
Many plants are seasonal. Call 01234 567890 to check current stock.
About this plant
Aristocratic and eye-catching these are arguably the most spectacular of all plants. There are around 50 species but of these but only a few are seen in gardens. There are a good number of decorative hybrids available. They send up immensely long and slender flowering spikes, paled with individual flowers. The lowest flowers open first for a show during May and June. In some forms the flowers can reach up to 2.5 metres in height. The flowers are in shades of white, pink, orange and yellow. They grow from curious rather rigid rhizomes that have roots fanning out in all directions so they look somewhat like enormous petrified spiders when dormant. The flowers come from a basal clump of strappy foliage and subside into dormancy for summer. Remember to mark the spot where these treasures have been positioned and grow other plants about then that will hide the hole! They need rich soil, sunshine and well-drained positions. They are susceptible to frost damage.
- Flower colour
- Brown, Orange, Pink, White, Yellow
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Variegated
- No
- Scent
- No
- Shape
- Column
- Height
- 1m – 2.2m
- Spread
- 0.3m – 1m
- Season of interest
- Summer
- Evergreen
- Deciduous
- Garden style
- Gravel garden, Exotic garden
- Sun or shade
- Likes full sun
- Soil type
- Chalk, Loam (normal), Sandy soil
- Soil pH
- All types
- Drainage
- Well drained soil
- Winter hardiness
- Varies, most are hardy
- Borders & containers
- Borders
- Use for
- Rabbit resistant
- Hazards
- No
AutumnNow
Autumn - late · Outdoors
Apply mulch
Spread organic material around the plant being careful not to bury its crown, or to put the mulch above the point at which the plant has been grafted in the case of trees.
A mulch is a covering that can: protect the soil surface from rain, heat and cold; deter weeds; provide nutrients. Organic indicates that material has vegetative origin e.g. manure, compost. Synthetics i.e. plastics, or stones are often called mulches.
Spring
Spring - late · Outdoors
Apply slow release fertiliser
Apply a slow release fertiliser which is spread around the root area of plants soon after they have come into growth. (Or apply a liquid feed at regular intervals throughout the growing season.)
This is a simple way to provide a nutrient boost as a single annual procedure.
Spring-Autumn · Outdoors
Water during dry periods
For plants in the ground, when there has been little or no rain for a period of 7-10 days and the soil is dry, give it a deep watering and repeat weekly until there is a downpour of rain. Check plants in pots more frequently, especially in hot weather.
Planting & general
Planting
Divide after flowering
Clumps that have become congested can be lifted, divided and replanted with some space between the bulbs, corms, or rhizomes so that they can further develop, producing new foliage clumps in the future.
Found in
More Eremurus
Eremurus stenophyllus
Tufted foxtail lily
Eremurus himalaicus
Himalayan foxtail
Eremurus robustus
Tall foxtail lily
Eremurus x isabellinus 'Cleopatra'
Giant asphodel
Eremurus 'Moneymaker'
Foxtail lily, Desert candle
Eremurus x isabellinus Ruiter Hybrids
Giant asphodel
Eremurus x isabellinus Shelford Hybrids
Giant asphodel