Middle Eastern Marvels - Garden Plants – Eremurus

Name – The botanical name Eremurus comes from the Greek for desert and tail, referring both to the origins of the flower and its shape. Its common name is 'foxtail lily', or in the USA, the ‘desert candle’

Description - Each flower spike is over one metre long and is made up of hundreds of tiny star-shaped flowers. These gradually open from the bottom to the tip of the spike, revealing long stamens. Colours range from the lightest lemon yellow to an almost pure red, but the most common are bright yellow and orange. It flowers quite early in the season, usually having gone over by the end of June.

Origin – This plant has been cultivated in Britain since 1875, but it originated in Iran, Turkey and Afghanistan. Eremurus should ideally be planted in a sunny, warm, sheltered area to protect them from strong winds and because they rarely need staking when they are given enough shelter. It’s important to select the position carefully as the plant resents being disturbed and it is best not to divide or transplant it unless absolutely necessary. Because of their countries of origin, the plants actually need winter cold to flower, and they can be grown in ordinary, acid to neutral soil which it must be well-drained, any loamy soil that is enriched with well-rotted manure or compost is good and the plants like plenty of sharp sand added to give of their best. In the spring, they have a tendency to show growth before the frosts are completely over which can lead to damage, to avoid this it’s best to cover the shoots at night until the weather is safer. Finally, once the foliage dies down in late summer, it’s an idea to mark the plant's position to avoid damaging them while they are dormant.

Middle east eremurus photograph by a little azorean, used under a creative commons attribution licence

 

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