Eremurus robustus
(Giant Desert Candle)
Family - Asphodelaceae
Category - Bulb
Origin - Central Asia
Year of Introduction - 1874
Season of Interest - Spring, Summer
Hardiness - H6
Height - up to 3m
Width - up to 1.2m
Location - The Terrace
Description: A herbaceous Perennial with fleshy, spider-like rootstock. Blue-green to bright green leaves are strap-shaped to lanceolate in shape and held in large rosettes at the base of the plant. Prolific, small star-shaped flowers are peachy pink and fade to nearly white with age. Each Bloom has a yellow centre and long stamens. The flowers are held in very long, vertical spike-like Racemes and are produced in early summer. The Blooms are very attractive to pollinating insects.
Award of Garden Merit (AGM).
Flower:
Many small, star-shaped flowers are peachy pink and fade to nearly white with age. The blooms are held in long, upright, spike-like racemes and are produced in June. Each raceme can produce as many as 800 individual flowers.
Flower colour: Pink, white
Flower shape: Star-shaped flowers in racemes
Flowering time: June
Foliage:
Blue-green to bright green leaves are strap-shaped to lanceolate in shape, and each individual leaf can reach to 1.2m in length. The leaves are held in substantial basal rosettes.
Foliage Senescence: Deciduous
Foliage Shape: Strap-shape to lanceolate
Propagation:
Division after flowering once dormant, seed.
Cultivation:
Best in full sun in fertile, well-drained soil. Will benefit from planting in a position that is sheltered from strong winds to protect the flowering stems.