General Description/History

These flowers have become very popular over the past 10 years, due to their long stems, beautiful pastel colours and long vase life. Flower-heads are long curved spikes, with hundreds of deep pink, yellow, orange or white flowers opening from the bottom up. Each flower is borne on a short stem, and is star-shaped with 5 petals. Anthers and styles stick out prominently in open flowers. Cut stems can exceed 1 metre in length and do not usually come with leaves. As garden plants E. robustus can grow over 2 metres in height.

Eremurus are grown from tubers in the field. Most are grown in Victoria or NSW.

What to look for

• Buy when about 1/4 to a half of the lower flowers in each spike are open.
• Avoid bent spikes, as they do not straighten.

Flower Care

1. Do NOT refrigerate.
2. Recut at least 2 cm off each stem and place in water immediately.
3. Always use a preservative as this will help buds to open.
4. Replace vase water with fresh preservative every 2 to 3 days.
5. Very sensitive to ethylene. Keep them away from fruit, car exhausts and cigarette smoke.
6. Remove wilted flowers as they are a source of ethylene.

Interesting Facts about this Flower

The botanical name Eremurus comes from the Greek for “desert tail”.

Botanical Name: Eremurus robustus

Common Names: Desert Candle, Foxtail Lily

Stem Length: 30 to 100 cm

Country of Origin: Iran

Available Colours: Pink, White, Yellow

Season: Summer,Spring

Availability: January,February,September,October,November,Decemeber