Success with Eremurus?

I paid a premium for one bare root. It is supposed to be the orange one. What should I expect? Has it flourished for any of you?

I put in 6 tubers/chunks of root/bulby things a couple of a month or 2 ago that are supposed to be a yellow eremurus.....(believe it or not, I found a bag of them at Costco)......no growth yet.....crossing my fingers though!

I planted some of those last spring. Never got anything. They are lovely in the pictures

I tried some several years ago, unsuccessfully. I'm thinking our climate is not right.

Oh dear, not very good luck with them I guess. I'll watch for one in a pot at the nurseries. I put it where I would love to see some orange popping up. Thanks for responding.

Out near LaConnor, there is a field of them. Grown I presume by one of the bulb company's. It's gorgeous. I do believe they hate any root disturbance once established.

I know several of the bulb companies sell a strain from Idaho (?) that is written up as being more successful in our neck of the woods than the other strains, which I presume come from the East Coast (?). I always salivate over them but haven't ordered yet, hoping someone will pipe up on this thread to report success :)

I planted some last fall and they came up. They're about 10" tall. If they bloom, I'll report it.

So excited to hear it, drtdgr! I checked the variety I put in, and it's Eremurus stenophyllis. Are yours ten feet tall already? Still nothing poking out of the ground for me, but just planted 1-2 months ago......

The foliage is now 10" tall. The flower stalk hasn't emerged yet. With our poor spring weather, I'm hoping the bloom time has been delayed. The proper bloom time is late spring/summer. I took great pains in planting it. It needs perfect drainage, which probably explains Northwest failures. Unwittingly, I also put it in poor soil, which it also likes.

10 inches, not 10 feet. Don't know what I was thinking when I typed that. I know they can get like 6 feet tall. But 10 feet already in May-now that would be amazing!

Someone in Connecticut posted in the cottage gardening forum that they have tried Eremurus but failed with it. Interesting. Must be tough to grow in many places---which would explain why I think it is so FABULOUS in gardening books, but why I never see it in anyone's yard.

Checked on my areas again---still no growth. :-( I planted them in 6 different locations in the yard.....so maybe that will improve my chances? And I didn't amend the soil when I planted them, which I guess was lucky now upon learning the poor soil requirement.....

OK, I have lurked enough! I have had some success with Eremurus. I will try and look to see if there are any pictures from last year. The best ones I got were from Old House Gardens, but I also got some from Mcclure&Zimmerman. It looks as though there will be 5 going to bloom this year, though no flowers yet, the foliage is looking nice and full. The first 2 from OHG have bloomed for 2 years, blooming the first year as the roots were huge and moist. The others were smaller and did not bloom the first year, and were sigificantly shorter as well. Now, the third year they look to be the same height, so far. I will take some pictures when they get a little bigger then chart their progress. I guess about a month and a half or so, depending on the weather as last May it snowed on the 11th!

I have hard clay soil, and not only did I amend the holes but put sand and grit in the bottom few inches, then put the amended mixture under and over the root, not too deep. They would get buried in clay if I planted them very deep and the instructions say to have them just below the soil line. They are supposed to be in "well-drained" soil! I don't have that and almost every plant I get wants that...LOL!! So I try to "amend the soil's ways"....

Oh, look, I found one from 6-21-2010....

This message was edited May 2, 2011 4:25 PM

Tell me about well-drained soil. Yes, every plant wants rich, well-drained soil and I have very little of that myself. I put mine on the top of a slope and built a little mound for each one, covering that with mulch to protect them from frost. They look a bit odd, perched upon their own mini-hill. I'm relieved yours bloomed at the end of June. Just out of curiosity, how tall is the foliage? I read they look awful after they bloom. Do you have anything in front of them? Thanks!

I do need to improve the area in which they reside. The 'Beverly Sills' iris blooms in front of them, but I know I will wait until fall to divide her as she will probably bloom better this year. It is a slow process, as one cannot move this plant around, once it is in the ground. I am still trying to figure out what else to put there...maybe some of the daylilies will hide the foliage of both the Eremurus and the Iris. I should put some really full ones there.

edited for oldlady-long-windedness....

I did, however, plant some eremurus in the back to the left side of a nice bright orange in the new bed.



This message was edited May 6, 2011 7:33 PM

I planted a number of them around the back yard in different spots to see if any of them "take." Some have come up now -- as tall as one foot -- but it's been an unusually cold, wet spring. (I think Seattle has had two or three days above 60 degrees F. since the beginning of 2011 -- a record.) So, I hope they don't rot. Some are large, some are small (depending on the variety), but no sign of bloom stalks yet. (The Alliums are just now shooting up.) I've also heard that they don't necessarily bloom the first year -- or even the second. Anybody know if that's true? If I plant more, I'm going to be sure to add sand to the planting holes, just in case...

The one I received from Old House Gardens bloomed the first spring, but their roots were really much larger than I ever received from McClure & Zimmerman, which did not bloom the first year. So I suppose it may depend. Just like when you receive roots of perennials, some large and some not...

Please describe what the root looked like when you got it. Mine has the bulbous center and one decent root and one flimsy root. That's all. And this cost 6 bucks. In a bag, off a rack. Is this a typical speciman?

Patti ~ These were large, moist and they had several sections coming from the main root. I am not sure which variety you got, as the ones I got from McClure & Zimmerman were E. bungei (3 for $8.95) and E. himalaicus (1 @ $12.95), though I am sure it will be a spectacle (sp) when it grows as there are no other plants that will be the "medium-tall" to "step in down", so it may just stand out like a sore thumb...or whatever...at least it will be white...haha...

If you check at McClure & Zimmerman, their roots are decent, though not as large as Old House Gardens. Unfortunately, OHG did not list any this season.

If you would like to check them out go to http://www.mzbulb.com

They sent me a bonus bulb since I ordered over $25.00

Oh, I just looked them up on Brent and Becky's and they have several varieties. I think I will try the shorter E.'Romance'. If you go to their website, it can be a bit tricky to navigate. First click on "shop", then under shop is their "genus list" to find your plants. If you just click shop, you do not get to the plants. they also let you download their catalog, but not for me on this laptop and on dial-up...nah....I do have a catalog somewhere around here. I need to get them all back in their file catalog drawer.

http://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/spring

I have some that appear to be thriving. They bloomed last year and made it through the winter. They are in full sun (full for my yard anyhow) and underneath a huge douglas fir tree, so they don't get much water. They have excellent drainage. Also, I know they hate having their roots disturbed and tend to sulk a bit after being planted. The roots should be planted where the center bud is slightly higher than the 'legs' of the root, which should be spread in a circle. My biggest problem is remembering not to disturb the roots when planting annuals in that area. I dig with my fingers. Some of mine did not bloom last year and these were smaller when planted. Last year they bloomed in the middle of June.

Is this Eremurus foliage?

Am I correct in thinking that the blossoms come up after the foliage dies down???

Sure looks like it is. I cannot remember if the foliage had died down or not.

Still nothing poking up out of the ground. I still have hope.

Mine has not yet had any buds on it. I think it will wait for a longer warmer spell. It has been a very cool spring with many storms. The foliage has emerged, but that it it for now. I will report back when there are any signs of flowers....

Mine are getting ready to bloom. I'm supposed to be in zone 8b, but who knows?

Now they have "shot up" and are in bud. They are not yet at their tallest. I had better water them.

My mom and I had a great weekend getaway in McMinnville, wine tasting and eating. On Sunday I dragged her to Dancing Oaks Nursery which was definitely a destination nursery (i.e. way the heck out in the middle of nowhere). Their gardens were lovely and the eremurus was in full bloom so I grabbed some pics for you all.

This one was pink :)

And this one was white! (So knowledgeable about Eremurus I am)

Gosh those white ones are just amazing! So tall and graceful.

Wow!!!

Beautiful, Kymmco!

Mine are blooming! Let's see if I can post a picture of them...

So pretty!! I may try again but with bulbs from a bulb company. Mine came from costco. At the time didn't know anything about them.

Thanks, springcolor! They are 'Cleopatra' and came from Brent and Becky's.

That's a lovely bed, drtdgr. Very, very nice! I'll have to see if I took a photo of mine.

I found one taken before they came in to full bloom.

Love the pictures and the flower. Also the way to display the insulators