Foxtail lily

I got these in one of the co-ops
last year they sent up spikes but just dissapeared
this year I'm in love!!!!

I can see why!

WOW! They are huge! I had three different ones and now I just have yellow ones left. Yours are bigger than mine. LOL

Fantastic! One of my co-workers brought one to work last week and now I understand why they are called foxtail lilies. I love the feel of them as well as the look.

Susan

CC, congrats on your foxtail lilies, they are not an easy plant to grow. I have tried but very unsuccessfully. I wonder what are some of the tips to growing these well? I have a hunch they need very well drained soil which is probably my downfall.

Wow! what a beautiful plant..
Winnie

I wonder if eremurus blooms at the same time as some of the Giant Allium....anybody know? I think the kids would really love that kind of garden. ;-) Thanks...t.

that's a wonderful plant, great job

WOW! Those make a great vertical statement in your garden!

Judy, they don't bloom at the same time in my garden. :) My allium went to seed a few weeks ago and my Eremurus just finished. They would look awesome together, like a fairly land garden!

I love that plant! I have the yellow one in my garden and I call it a lions tail. It does bloom near the same time as my alliums. Probably because I am further south. Great photo! Makes me want to order some more for next year. Maybe some white ones!

I have some giant allium just finishing up, might work with the Eremus. Trouble is, I don't know what kind it is...

that would be a really fun combination at the end of our driveway! Right now it's a little sparse and dull out there...

My alliums just went to seed but they would make a great combo,one picks up where the other left off

I have them in my lily garden
which we enhanced the soil with manure when we started it ....3 or 4 years ago,it started out as my tropical garden but we needed some place for his lilies so in they went
Haven't done anything to the soil,it's moist, black , well drained and I want my tropicals back in it....LOL

I am so happy with these 'cause it was mentioned that they might not be hardy here........
and thanks for all your praise!!!
I'm smiling ear to ear every time I look at them

Wow! And Wow! to the forest of wonderful lilies they're nestled in! I've been really wanting some eremerus for some time now. Tried some last year from Dutch Gardens and only 1 came up, but it did nothing and did'nt return this year. Brent and Becky's is offering a seed strain mixture hybridized in the US that they say is much more vigorous than those grown in Holland. Most of the catalogs are saying they're hardy to zone 5, so I'm going to try my hand at them again. Thanks for the inspiration, and would love to see pics when all those lilies start blooming, Neal.

Yes, I put the Brent and Becky's mixed 'spring valley' american strain on my wish list too.

http://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/spring/search/search.php?fromsku=17-0101§ion=genus&criteria=20

Along with some allium..

Neal-- I was out looking in my garden for the Eremurus today-- did you ever get any of the Spring Valley Hybrids and if so, are any peeking out?

Just wondering...

I have something budding out in my garden where I planted them, but it might be some giant allium from past years...

Earlier this year I found both sets of Eremurus that bloomed last spring in my garden poking through the soil, one was up a couple of inches, the other about an inch. I believe the crazy weather initiated a wake up call far too early and am concerned that the cold weather might mean some severe damage (the source books usually include a passage that cautions gardeners to cover the emerging shoots during cold spring days). I constructed a shelter over the emerging tips and covered the whole area with a mound of straw. If time permits tomorrow I'll get a pic to post.

Oh, j., thanks for responding to this old thread!

I had forgotten about the 'early spring protection clause' in the descriptions, so I'd better go out and do that (if indeed these are the eremurus and not the allium)...

Do your eremurus shoots look something like allium only reddish edged and a little more complex in form?

Thanks again for advising. (You can probably tell I am excited about my Eremurus!)

Glad to see this thread revived. Yes tabasco, I did get the Spring Valley Hybrids during B&B's 1/2 off sale, and while brushing the mulch aside on Saturday I found a big, rounded sprout just under the surface. It's much fatter than allium sprouts typically are. I'm bursting with excitement!

Pic of Foxtail Emergence:

They appear alright so far. After obtaining photo, the structure and straw were restored.

Thank you for the good pic, jmorth. I really apreciate it. And gem, I'm glad you went for the Spring Valleys, too. Now we'll see just how good that variety is...

I found two emerging tips (and the others I think are giant allium), so I'd better make a structure(?) and get some straw to protect them (from the crazy weather pattern this year).

I planted 13 eremurus--10 'spring valley' and 3 'cleopatras'.

I wonder how many will come up?

Let's keep in touch about the Eremurus. Could be interesting.... t.

I have tried these several times years ago and nothing ever came up. Is it possible to plant them in the spring?

I've been looking through some vendors and have'nt found any for sale this spring, so I'm thinking they're only planted in fall.

tabasco, did your Cleopatra roots/tubers look different from the Spring Valley Hybrids? I had bought a few from Dutch Gardens a couple of years ago (nothing came up) and the bulbs looked quite different from what I recieved from Brent&Becky's. The 3 from Dutch Gardens looked more like a bulb, round, about 2-3"in diameter, and had practically no roots extending from them. The B&B plants looked more like a small tuber with a large growth bud and lots of big, fleshy roots extending in every direction, the whole being 6-8" across. Besides cut flowers, these are all I've seen of this plant in person. I'm curious if the different cultivars form different root structures.

Neal

Try here for Foxtail lilies http://www.buggycrazy.builderspot.com/SUMMER_BLOOMING_BULBS.html

Yes, gem, the tubers looked different. The Cleopatras had bigger centers/knobs and then it looked like the 'arms of the octopus' had been cut off at about 3 inches. The Spring Valleys were less massive but the 'arms' were longer. Does that make sense?

I am not sure what is coming up--I think it's the Spring Valleys, but can't be sure.

I had no idea Buggy Crazy has such a nice range of bulbs available. Someone on another thread recommended her for Liatris Bulbs, too, and I am going to order from her. Her lily bulbs are huge according to the Lily maniacs. (Moby isn't that right?!)

I thought that Eremurus needed some winter chill but maybe not....I also thought they should be planted right away after harvesting, but maybe that is more legend than fact. Don't really know much about them, either.

But I'm covering them up tonight. It's cold and windy and I don't want to lose them!

gem--my Cleopatras were bigger than the Spring Valleys, but the Cleopatras seemed to have the arms amputated at about 4 inches, whereas the Spring Valleys did not.

Spring Valleys from B & B and Cleopatras from Scheepers/VanEngelen.

I didn't know Buggy Crazy had such a nice variety of bulbs, Moby. Someone recommended her for Liatris too. And I've heard her Lily Bulbs are magnificent. I will be sure to order from her soon.

Yes ~ buggycrazy has very nice stuff and the lily bulbs are enormous!

I have a box waiting at the post office from buggycrazy and can't wait to see them ( lilies) for myself! She digs a lot of her offerings fresh, so that may be how the eremerus get their chill time. She's getting out of lilies :( so if that's what you're considering I'd order fast.

The Spring Valley Eremerus root/tubers looked so alien to me. Remember the old black and white sci-fi flic with the flying brain suckers? I had a little fun before they were planted when some friends were over;I put one on a friend's lap and had a great laugh with the reactions!
Neal

Gemini...would you please post pictures when they arrive?

Sure, I'd be glad to. She told me the varieties I ordered naturally don't form as big a monster bulb as others, but I'm sure they're still very nice. Also got yellow callas and 4 varieties of castor bean seed.

I just got the lilies and WOW! I'll post pics in the morning, but if these are her "smaller" bulbs, I can't imagine the big ones! The 'Leslie Woodriff' is 45cm circ. and 6" in diameter! The smallest of the 3 L.henryi is 5"diameter and 35cm. circ. Everything else looks great to.
Neal.

This message was edited Mar 3, 2006 7:22 PM

Deb, what ya think of these!?

Nice size bulbs. Guess I need to get some of those :)

Her prices vary according to variety, but these were only $3 each! That's less than most vendors charge for regular size bulbs. She said some of the large bulbs will produce as many as 50 blooms! I'm soooo excited!

gem-- you really scored! those will be beauties! t.

i just got some eremerus "bulbs" from buggy crazy. they are not going to live in texas, are they?

mamajack, The Brent&Becky's catalog shows that they should grow throughout Texas. Good luck with them, Neal.

I think their natural habitat is western and central Asia - Afghanistan, Near East and Iran, western Pakistan, and the various central and south central formerly Russian states. In the wild they grow in rocky semi-desert, dry, grazed grassland, or sand. Sounds a bit like Texas to me. They do require cold in winter to flower well; said to be unsuited to areas that are completely frost-free. Most sources say Z 5 is at their northern limit. However, the variety that comes from NW Himalayais (E. himalaicus) is from a Z 3 climate. Of the 25 or so listed varieities there is 1 Z3, 3 Z4, 8 Z5, 8 Z6.

this is the plan: dig an area 2-3 ft.x5ft.......depends on the aging body. raise the bed. dig out the hard texas clay and mix the clay with prof. bedding mix that has lava sand and green sand. then i will add several bags of gardening sand. i have 5-6 of these to plant...........some are 6 in. diameter size at least. i will plant them on a TEXAS unsheltered WEST side.....this has to be the hottest/driest/harshest microclimate known to man and plants. will this work? how sturdy are these in the wind? and do you water all through the summer? or just as they are settling in?

Gee, that is the most beautiful lily I ever saw. Will it grow in fla zone 9b.
I would like to have some of these. Thanks for showing ...Fran

the ones crestedchick has, i believe were from a co-op i did in the springtime. i found the tubers "legs" to be quite brittle and they very easily broke off. at the time i did some research on them and they are quite specific in there needs. one of them is they don't like a lot of water, which explains why the second year i didn't get any stalks or buds at all. we had a LOT of rain. i have mine planted in full sun on the north side of my property. the first season i planted them, in the spring, i had small stalks of flowers come up on 3 of the 8 i originally planted. over the next rainy spring and into the 3rd year, i ended up wtih 4, and they were gorgeous in full bloom last year. last fall a landscaper i hired pulled one of them up, before i could stop him. ARGGGH!!!! i put it back in , but i'm not too hopeful for its recovery.
good luck with yours.
debi z .