Last year mine failed to produce a viable flowering stalk. This year is better: This pic illustrates the tallest this year. It produced two flowering scapes but one was damaged by either the late frost or the concoction I used to shield it from that frost.
Here's three Cleopatra
Cleopatra close up.
jmorth, you give me hope. I had some years ago that were lovely and then were lost to a period of neglect when I was unable to garden due to illness for a few years. I planted some 'Cleopatra' eremurus from Tulipworld last fall as well as some Pinocchio Eremurus from VAN ENGELEN which were absolutely huge tuberous rootstock and have produced very health foliage thus far. I need to go check on the 'Cleopatra' as I had forgotten about her. I hope she is lurking and not gone before her time. Patti
Aren't eremurus fun to have in the garden? So elegant!
Can't resist adding mine from this year to the thread. Had a pretty good return on them from last summer much to my surprise.
I planted 'spring valley' and 'cleopatra'--now I'm not sure which are which. I have others coming up, too--will bloom in about 2 weeks. I hope mine never go away!
Patti, Hoping your search for lady of the Nile is successful; enjoy your pics.
Tabasco, I couldn't agree more, Eremurus' elegance and commanding presence inevitably steal the show for a too brief time during the waning days of spring. Have you ever tried 'robustus?'
J
Haven't tried Robustus. Only 'spring valley' and 'cleopatra' and I think I have some 'pinnochio' coming in--a bonus from buggycrazy. Haven't tried the really big ones because I have limited sunny garden space and I'd read that eremurus don't like other plants messing around in their root systems which run wide.
Mine are only two years old and I am shocked I can grow them at all. Now that I have my confidence up, though, I might try some others!
They are fun to have in the garden. All the neighbor ladies are fascinated by them! Me, included.
Hi--I am new to DG and happy to hear that others have tried foxtail lilies with success. I planted some a few years ago and after waiting 3 years, would only get the leaves but no flower stalks ever appeared. Figured the stock material was a fluke, or is this plant a delicasse for slugs?? (We have those!) The soil is clayish, so they may have dried a bit too often in the summers. They were pulled and trashed. I'd like to try new stock for next Spring. What is supposed to be their approximate bloom time? May? Thanks.
Bloom time is usually referred to as very late spring or early summer, which usually translates into, just as you postulated, May. Quick drainage is essential, I mixed a 5 gallon bucket of sand into the area where I grow mine.
Thanks, Jmorth. Can you tell me which varieties are the biggest, plummiest? I haven't seen much but orangish-yellow in some low-end catalogs. Are there pinks/reds readily available that do a good show?
No reds per say, but pinks yes; also, whites, yellows, & oranges.
The most striking one I've ever grown was a 'robustus'...it was like 8' tall. The white 'himalaicus' is another one over 7' tall. I've received good sized bulbs from Brent & Becky's, McClure & Zimmerman, John Scheepers (or Van Engelen). Another excellent source should be BuggyCrazy (I've not had Eremurus from her, but understand she has them; everything I have received from her has been fantastic).
Fraser's has a nice range of Eremurus. I have not purchased from them, but they are known for their rare and nice plants. http://www.thimblefarms.com/sbulb1.html
My eremurus bloomed in late May. There was a two week spread between varieties. I wanted them to bloom with my various purple allium, but it didn't quite work--allium bloomed first. I did have the white tall allium bloom at the same time, and also some early tall bearded iris. A bit gaudy/showy but a fun springtime bloom 'show'. LOL
Another note on the planting: from my reading it said that they don't like their roots messed with, so no close planting of other perennials, I guess.
Jmorth--thanks for the info. No reds?? What a shame. But I do love the hot orange-yellows. Very stunning and perfect for a "hot" zone planting. Bu-- gasp! I didn't know they got THAT tall!! Pictures of them seem to only focus on the plumes since the foilage is so-so. Most catalogs don't tell you anything about them. I did read in the instructions I got with my Park Seed bulb order a few years back that their roots were very sensitive and you can't plant them close to anything. If that's the case, what do you plant with them??!! Not much elase is showing in late spring.
I think the giant allium scheme is competition for foxtails--and like you said, Tobasco, a "fun show" (what am I thinking here??) if not wacky (with big and tall, big and ball). Late May here is kind of tween time--before the other summer lilies and perennials break out, so you need some kind of lower growing support. I bet they fall over in the wind.
Thanks for listing the suppliers, Tobasco. It's good to know which nurseries sell the real things. I haven't done business with any of those places yet but will check them out.
BuggyCrazy's Eremurus roots were huge when they came. They looked like foot long spiders! I only got one to bloom, but I planted them in a cluster of ditch lilies I'd thought I'd eradicated :) I'm naive like that. The one that did bloom was pretty short- about 2 ft, which I think was due to the lack of resources. They all sprouted in the spring- so they made it through the winter, just couldn't carve a niche.
Here's a picture of Pinocchio, June 17th:
the color is pretty true
Sadly, I got good foliage but no blooms for the ones I planted last year. Patience. No other choice as I don't dare try an move them. "Always next year". That garden is a real winner, always. Ha. Patti
Patti- that is probably the most important thing I've learned in the last year. I can love it all, but expecting it to grow in Illinois (outside) is just not realistic. Especially with the effort I'm willing to put into it :) Woman plans, Mother Nature laughs
Ah, let's see-- I have some grasses near the E., a big rock and some daylily foliage and other greens stuff leafing out but not right in with the E. And from the photos I see some kind of orange daisy but I can't recall what that might be.
My 'pinocchio' from Buggycrazy got to be about 3 feet tall, which is what the catalog's description predicts (2 to 3 ft.) for that cultivar. My other E. got to be more like 5 or 6 feet tall in partial sun.
OK, don't laugh at this, but Martha Stewart's site recommends giving them liquid fertilizer every 30 days or so and that's what I did. I think it made a difference, too.
When they are finished, I set a big pot of flowers near/over the E. space to fill in the border. Works OK although I'm sure the E. would rather not have the container on top!
Hope they come back for their 3/4 years!
So, you guys are having more success with buying live plants already started in pots? The bareroot stock I purchased through mail order was a big disappointment. The foilage expanded each year but after the 3rd and no flower, my patience wore out. They're history. Three growing seasons may not be enough for foxtails it seems. I may live to regret ripping them out.
Martha Stewart site?!! Inever thought to look there for plant advice. Duh. Is the liquid fertilizer "Miracle Gro?" Fish emulsion and compost tea are preferrable in the organic sense.
Foxtails have a meadow-type appeal to me, so their bedding companions would suitably be more loose, natural and wild looking sorts. Grasses are good anywhere. The orange flowers mentioned may be some kind of wildflower or butterfly weed. I was just thinking of red hot poker (aka "Torch Lily) but I am not sure of their bloom time. I think it is later.
Well, I purchased the Eremurus roots/rhyzomes--some from B & B, VanEngelen's and then Buggycrazy's sale--planted them in prepared soil in a mound fashion in full sun. Give them space around so the roots can spread out. After the E. bloom was finished I placed pots of salvias, etc. on the spot to fill in the empty space.
I gave them doses of liquid fertilizers (yes, Miracle Grow for Bloom) once a month in springtime. I suppose compost tea would be just fine, too, and fish emulsion if you have them.
Foxtails are pretty in a meadow-natural garden a la Piet Oudulf. They are also commonly paired with roses and iris. I think the keys are sunshine, excellent drainage, and maybe the fertilizing.
The 'crocus' site mentions some plants that Eremurus goes well with, but in my garden, the Eremurus blooms much earlier than those mentioned with the exception of the coreopsis. http://www.crocus.co.uk/Catalog/GardenPlants/?ContentType=Plant_Card&ClassID=2000004965
I experimented with growing Eremurus naturalized in rough grass. I planted the bulbs and then replaced the sod on top, hoping that the sod layer would insulate from cold in the winter and the grass roots would keep the soil dry in summer. The first spring, when the Eremurus came up they pushed the circle of sod up with them, so for a while they were wearing collars like an Elizabethan ruff! They flowered the first year. However, the grass and tall meadow weeds - golden rod, teasels, thistles, asters - have since choked them out. I saw Eremurus leaves this spring, but no sign of flower stalks.
I went to the Crocus website and it was very nice. I think the "goes well with" side bars were interesting and think the choices were meant for cover and/or successive blooms. I have never seen a live Bear's Breeches and thought they were more for part-shade??!! Thanks for the resources. This nursery seems to be in the U.K. but I went ahead and ordered a catalogue, anyway. They had a Kniphofia they said bloomed from July to October(!!). No joke? The ones I know here only bloomed for two weeks in late June and early July and that's it. Somebody needs to update the PlantFiles for Foxtail Lily and Kniphofia. There isn't enough beleivable information on these two kinds of plants.
Ideas for a foxtail bed: I have a Russian sage bed with Prairie Queen (pink plumed perennial) behind the sage. The original design goal was to create a silver wall with pink waves on top. However, the sage growth rate is sluggish and the PQ has varying heights and doesn't hold up during the summer heat and humidty. The plan now is to evict the P.Q. , replace with blue or orange irises, and waltz some Arkansas Amsonia through the puny sage to fill in. Amsnia is a neat plant, with needle-like foilage but feels like ferns. Very pretty w/3 season interest. Blooms in mid-May, too, probably about the same time as foxtails. And, of course, the plan highlight is inserting foxtails in the remaining gaps to be the "wave" on top of the misty amsnia and sage foilage. I think that would look great for a foxtail exhibit, provided the E. bloolm. Any other ideas??
To the Ontario E. gardener--what would Shakespeare have said about the Elizabethan collars?? I forgot the Elizabethan curses--they've slipped my head at the moment, sorry. I guess those plants come up when they want to. If heavy sod doesn't tie them down, what's the science of the nn-flowering seasons, even when you give them all they need??
Yes, 'Crocus' is Allen Titchmarsh's, the BBC gardening commentator's site--I refer to it for good combinations and news of gardening from the UK.
Your plan sounds interesting. I love Amsonia but don't really have room for it.
For your gardening plan I suppose you could look through VanEngelen's/Scheeper's or B & Bs web catalogs for some medium tall May blooming bulbs to go in the bed with the feathery Amsonia while the Eremurus are blooming--maybe some white or blue Camassias...? Or some well-chosen tulips (we don't have tulips because of deer.)
Photo of the white camassia blooming with allium. I think these come up about the same time as the Eremurus but I can't find of pic of them together....
Tobasco, Very nice idea of camassia and allium together, but what is the tall, not quite in bloom stalk in front of the what I assume is the shrub Ilex crenata? Thanks, Patti
I think those are more camas semiplena--I also have peonies and daylilies and clematis in there for later bloom phases.
Tabasco, Thanks I have now added this to my wanted journal with this in the comment field. "plant with white allium as per Tabasco see [HYPERLINK@davesgarden.com] "
Brent and Becky have them and I am about to place a new order with them. I already have a big one in for tulips and narcissus with them for next fall, but I keep seeing new misc bulbs that I love so I will send in another order soon. I will also wait patiently for their big fall sale in Nov. I got some great more expensive bulbs last year that I was dying to try from their sale. It is like having a diamond sale at Tiffany's. I keep hoping someone will do a B&B coop. I would, except sending things to Nantucket makes no sense as our post often takes days longer to come and go. Plus I have come down with Lyme again so my energy level is rather low. Lots of naps and not much heavy gardening. Thankfully I got the garden in good shape this spring. I am in the enjoying phase. Patti
So sorry to hear about the Lyme situation. Dreadful stuff. Although an excuse to nap could be nice in the right circumstances...
I'm not sure, but I think I got my white camas semiplena from VanEngelen's. I think the pricing was much more competitive than B & B, but maybe the strain was not as elegant.... Sale prices are always good for enabling bulb-aholicism, though. Purchased the eremurus from VanEngelens, B & B and BuggyCrazy. Mostly on the sales. (I hate to pay full price for plants--in fact, never do.)
I would be the worst person in the world to do a co-op. I am both disorganized and a procrastinator so everyone would be at sixes and sevens with me, no doubt! Better just to shop the sales for me, although after my bulb disasters last year (freeze outs, rodents, deer, rot, you name it) I'm ready to give up on them for a while. When I look at that photo I posted above, I get wistful/tearful as it's part of the gardens gone by!
Hope you are feeling better soon. Your garden pics posted through out DG are so lovely! t.
Tabasco--nice picture! Those purple alliums stand out! Hardly would think the deer had been through the area. I have foraging squirrels and chipmunks and rabbits. And a dog who runs over everything chasing them. The deer are probably just down the road. I've never tried Camassia. Not sure if the critters vouch for it. Your suggestions are welcome and appreciated. So you have clematis in your bulb bed? I was thinking of that, too.
Bulbaholism! LOL. I was trained in the word "PAS" (plant acquisition syndrome, where you are obsessed with buying/collecting everything you see and like, regardless of space availability horticultural requirements, or design conformity.) I have PAS every January and again in August. I want to try some of the new bulbs I'm seeing here and also want a "Van Gogh" tulip collection. I had one years ago. It was a chance purchase at Home Depot--a bag of 15 bright-colored tall tulips (2-1/2 ft). So neat. I want to find them again. I already have the Van Englenden and B&B catalogs spread out in front of me.
I have a bed of Oriental and Casa Blanca lilies getting ready to open up, so I will attempt to post shots of my obsessions soon!
They are beautiful flowers. Look what one student did one year after they were done blooming.
Is that a blue paint treatment? Very interesting.
yep! Extra color in the garden. The choice in colors makes you take a second look.
ngarr--
Was that an art student or a horticultural student?? Or, how old was that kid?? I guess they could have been done in red as well. How about phosphorescent paint for a glow-in-the-dark spent foxtail show??
A student of horticulture. You have some great ideas foxnfirefly.
I was betting art major for sure- I lost :)
Ah, a horticulture student!! It had to be. Flower-painting is probably not a new concept. Remember the old story of the hapless gardeners "painting the roses red" because they made a mistake and planted white roses and the Queen wanted red ones? Now that I think about it, those "blue" foxtails look like delpheniums. Ngarr--are you the horticulture professor??
A naturalist and life long student. I can't seem to learn everything there is to learn.
Funny, your comment really made me think. (a fleeting occurance with me) As a child I loved natural beauty- rocks, shells, plants, stuff like that. Then I got an art degree and tried to create beauty, and now have come full circle trying to find it again. Life does seem to be an ebb and flow of learning- not in a grab a book kind of way, but just a fine tuning of learning your enviornment and yourself. Thanks for the early morning inspiration Mgarr :) I needed it.
LOL, Hybl. I think all gardeners are art-inspired, and are using the landscape as their canvas. We can change the colors of foilage and flowers to suit our fancies, but we often find out we can't always create the perfect picture.
Laugh, amen to that.
I think the lack of perfection is what makes it for me anyhow. It highlights what's right and throws in the unexpected.
DBG had eremurus EVERYWHERE first week of june, coinciding (and interplanted) with TB Iris, peonies, poppies, and allium. It was quite a display.
