My excitement of the day was seeing the Eremurus breaking through the gravel. I had long lusted for these thrilling perennials after first seeing them as cut flowers. The huge long foxtails in pastel colors of orange, white, yellow and pink almost had me shelling out seven bucks a stem for them. I was envious of those who could grow the clumps I saw in the photos, with dozens of stems reaching six feet tall. When I read about them, they seemed so temperamental. “Plant them on a mound of gravel or they will rot”. “Don’t disturb the roots or they won’t bloom.” “The soil must be bare and exposed to the summer sun.” “They dislike winter moisture.” How do you avoid winter moisture? But when I learned that they grew in cold-desert regions, I knew that they must do well here in Albuquerque. According to the book Perfect Plants by the BBC (which is, by the way, a great book to inspire plant lust), they come from the mountainsides of the Middle East, Central Asia and the foothills of the Himalayas, where winter temperatures drop to -40F and “searing summer heat.” Perfect (read with a Simpson's-esque sneer and rubbing of hands).
Looking around in the spring, I was nearly rear-ended when, driving down Carlisle Boulevard I spotted large clumps of them blooming heartily in the planted medians. I had to have some. But there weren’t any to be had, as they are best planted in the fall.
Eremurus blooming on Carlisle
About 2002 I went to the Philadelphia Flower Show. Even though this is a spring show, they had Eremurus for sale. I was thrilled. I bought three. None grew that first year, and the following year rewarded me with a single four-inch leaf. Whoopee. Three leaves appeared the next year, then four, then six. Two years ago I bought five roots, which arrived looking pretty pathetic. I planted them anyway, not expecting much, but three flower stems (in that first year, smaller and shorter than they should become) appeared the following summer.
When Eremurus appear, they make no bones about it. The roots sit unseen from June through March, under bare ground, baking in the blazing heat. In March, they don’t slowly peek out from the soil. One day they aren’t there, and the next, there is a burst of green coming out of the soil. LIterally. Those in the top photo are 2 days from bare ground. I’m hoping for fireworks this year. I’ll keep you posted.
Last year's bloom:
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