Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Foxtail Lily (Eremurus himalaicus)


Foxtail Lily
Eremurus himalaicus
(er-EE-mur-us) (him-al-LAY-ih-kus)
Liliaceae (lil-ee-AY-see-ay)

It seems most of the species in Eremurus go by the name Foxtail Lily. This was a nice one because of its snow white color and large size. I would like to try a nice patch in front of some Diablo Ninebark. They make a nice cut flower. I used to have a small amount of Foxtails (Eremurus x isabellinus) at the Estate but come to think of it I haven’t seen them since the last round of construction in 1998 (guess they are gone). I saw this one at Wave Hill. On my first visit to Wave Hill this spring I noticed, for the first time, that they have a huge specimen of Dove Tree (Davidia involucrata). I have never seen one in bloom before. But when I got down there again a month later this is what I found.



I did notice about 5 bracts still hanging on the tree but that didn’t give the joy I was looking for. I did manage to snap this picture.



The flower inside had already turned to seed so I didn’t bother showing that. So sooner of later I hope to see both this tree, the Jacaranda Tree and the Royal Poinciana Tree (Delonix regia) in full bloom. I did see the Royal Poinciana Tree in about the same state of bloom as the Dove Tree once in Key West, Florida. I just got to get the timing down.

I moved all the foliage out of the Conservatory yesterday despite the 2 inches of rain we received. We needed the rain but it didn’t help matters. I also planted some more annuals and Karen made up most of the large pots for the container garden. It takes about 17 large pots. For annuals I planted some ‘Easy Wave Red’ Petunias with some Sweet Cream White Marigolds. Near the Dahlias, which perked up a bit from not being hit with the blazing sun, I planted some White Petunias with Heliotrope. I used 4-inch pots so they didn’t look bad when they went in.

3 comments:

Diane Dehler said...

You have been busy and the Foxgloves are beautiful. Too bad the two inches of rain didn't help. I thought that was good news.

Digital Flower Pictures said...

Rain is good news at night or on Sunday ;-)

The rain was good for the garden but not when you have deadlines and have to work outside in it.

Ki said...

Chris,
The foxtail lily is about the best picture you have taken so far. It is my favorite. The background yellow green matches the buds and the slightly purple cast on the small buds turning to the yellowish bigger buds with green ribbing, then the white flowers with yellow stamens and pistil look just great. I guess the fortuitous combination of all those elements along with your good eye made a stunning photo!