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Commonly known as Desert Candles or Foxtail Lilies, these tall willowy spires are comprised of densely-packed flowers that open progressively from the bottom of each spike up, with a sparse, ground-level rosette of long strappy leaves.
Deer-and rodent-resistant, Eremurus prefers rich, well-draining soil in a dry spot with bright sunlight and protection from wind. Not a bulb, but a spider-like, woody tuberous rootstock, Eremurus do not like being out of the soil, so plant immediately upon receipt. The rootstocks dry out after harvest and rehydrate once planted.
Horticultural Zone Hardiness
Eremurus are generally hardy in Zones 5 through 8. If your garden is in a horticultural zone that is either too cold or only marginally appropriate, you may want to apply no more than a 2" layer of mulch after the ground surface freezes in the fall. The mulch should trap the cool temperatures into the soil, not warmth. Mulch helps to protect the roots from arctic temperature spikes. Good mulching mediums include straw, salt marsh hay or oak leaves. In the spring, you can loosen the mulch in the area in which the plants will be sprouting.
Bulb Inspection
Check your shipment against the packing slip and make sure that everything is as it should be. Occasionally, bags of smaller bulbs may be placed in the inner boxes of other bulbs to reduce jostling during shipment. If you can’t find something, open all of the inner boxes. If there is a discrepancy, please call us immediately so that we may resolve it with you. Since every bag or box of bulbs in your order has been scanned using its UPC barcode, we can usually tell you in which box each variety is located.
Inspect your bulbs carefully. We make every effort to ship you only healthy, firm, top quality bulbs. Eremurus look nothing like traditional Narcissus or Tulip bulbs. Not a bulb, but a spider-like, woody tuberous rootstock, Eremurus do not like being out of the soil, so plant immediately upon receipt. The rootstocks dry out after harvest and rehydrate once planted.
Bulb Size
We offer the top size eremurus rootstocks available. There can be size variation.
Bulb Storage Before Planting
After you’ve received your order and inspected it, keep the exterior carton and the inner boxes open to give the bulbs some air. All bulbs love good air circulation. Avoid storing Eremurus rootstocks. They prefer to be planted immediately after receipt.
Select and Prepare the Planting Site
Eremurus prefers neutral pH and well-draining soil. The best soil is a sandy loam. Loosen the soil at each individual planting site: 36” apart (never overcrowd them).
Please do not ever add horse manure, chicken droppings, mushroom compost or other hot manure or compost to your flower bulb beds. If you would like to add compost you’ve made yourself, please make sure that it has a neutral pH and is completely decomposed and healthy. Partially decomposed compost can spread fungal disease, such as botrytis blight and nasty pests. What is good for vegetables is not necessarily good for flower bulbs.
Eremurus require full sunlight.
Easy to Plant
We'll ship you the bulbs in time for planting in your garden in the fall, once the ground has chilled down to about 55°F, after about two weeks of sweater weather when night time temperatures have hovered in the 40s. This is the best time to plant Eremurus.
Imagine the rootstock as your hand with the fingers outstretched. The top of the back of your hand is the “nose” or the pointed crown of the Eremurus, and your fingers are its spidery tentacles. Gently place each brittle, spidery rootstock with its pointed crown facing up and the fingers spread out. Do your best to avoid rootstock breakage. Cover the top of the rootstock with a scant 2" to 3" of soil. In marginal microclimates or in areas with cold winters and inconsistent snow cover, a 2" layer of mulch should be applied after the top of the ground freezes to protect the shallow rootstocks from temperature spikes and early spring frosts.
Fertilizing
Never put anything, including fertilizer, in the bottom of each bulb planting hole. Plant the bulbs to the proper depth and spacing, tamp down the soil and broadcast a 5-10-5 or 4-10-6 granular organic fertilizer over the surface of the bed as if you were feeding the birds.
While all flower bulbs are nature’s perfect little packages and will bloom beautifully the first year, we recommend broadcasting fertilizer three times a year for all perennial and naturalizing flower bulbs. First at the time of fall planting to help grow the roots, second when the sprouts emerge in the spring to help nourish the foliage and flower, and finally when the flowers start to die back, to help feed the bulb itself. (Bone meal is incomplete nutritionally and can attract animals to some varieties of bulbs.)
Bloom Times, Size and Color
The bloom time listed for each variety is for horticultural zone 5 in normal spring conditions. The warmer the horticultural zone, the earlier flower bulbs will bloom. The colder the horticultural zone, the later flower bulbs will bloom in the spring.
Flower bulbs do everything in response to temperature, sunlight and site conditions. Bloom times, heights and colors are approximations affected by temperature and site conditions regardless of the calendar date. If it is a warm spring, bulbs will bloom earlier. If it is a cold spring, bulbs will bloom later. If it is a long cool spring, followed by rapid warming, you may find odd bedfellows: earlier blooming Galanthus flowering right along side later blooming Crocus, Species Tulips and Narcissi. Each spring can offer a different sort of garden surprise party.
In the event of a mild winter or a warmer-than-usual spring, flower bulbs that have emergent stalks with set buds may bloom early, small and short, although they will likely grow taller and larger as temperatures moderate. Temperature spikes can also affect mature root development, the actual form of the flower or the process of flower color maturation.
Spring Care
The most important thing to remember in the Spring is to enjoy your garden! Create big and little reasons to be outside, hold an annual Spring flower party, take notes on what you love and how all of your bulbs are doing, and take photos of where you need to plant more.
Once Eremurus bloom and start to die back, make sure to keep the foliage going until it dies back naturally. A maximum period of photosynthesis allows the rootstocks to regenerate for the future.
Blooming in May/June in a horticultural zone 5, deer- and rodent-resistant Eremurus grow from 3' to 6' tall, depending on the variety, with a sparse, ground-level rosette of long, strappy leaves. After the flowers die back, the foliage continues to grow, which is a good thing: a prolonged period of photosynthesis helps the rootstocks regenerate for future years of blooms. Once the foliage dies back, it may be raked and discarded.
