Candles in the wind

Eremurus, also known as desert candles and foxtail lilies, make a wonderful show and are easy to grow if you give them the right conditions, says John Hoyland

- John Hoyland

SEVERAL years ago, my attention was caught by a television war correspondent reporting from the conflict in a desolate region of Afghanistan. I became fascinated not by his account of inhumanity, but by the beauty of the setting. Dotted through the bleak landscape behind him were tall spires of glowing white flowers, swaying gently in the breeze. Nature appeared triumphant, even in that hellish place.

'The bulb is the oddest looking: a fat bud with long fleshy roots like a giant starfish'

The plant was a species of eremurus, a bulb whose magnificent flowers punctuate the poor soil and rocky slopes of central and western Asia. Transplanted into British gardens, these imposing plants, sometimes 9ft tall, create a spectacle that few others can achieve. Part of the excitement generated by eremurus is to witness the energy that, in only a few short weeks of early summer, transforms a bud pushing through the soil into leaf, stalk and then flower, every day rushing further skywards.

The common name of foxtail lily and, less commonly, desert candle, evoke the form of the flower. A thick stem is covered in June with tiny buds slowly opening from the bottom of the stem to the top to reveal star-shaped flowers. By the time the relay has fizzed its way to the tip of the spire, the first flowers are beginning to fade. On the tallest species, the top 3ft of the stem are covered with flowers. The spectacle is not long-lasting and, after a couple of weeks, all the flowers have faded to make way for seed pods the size of Mirabelle plums. I usually leave the skeletons standing, both for their architectural outline and to allow the plant to self-seed.