Eremurus ‘Cleopatra’

Eremurus 'Cleopatra' is a garden cultivar derived from the cross Eremurus × isabellinus (E. stenophyllus × E. olgae), not a wild species. It grows from a non-bulbous rootstock of fleshy roots arranged like a starfish. The rosette of narrow, blue-green leaves withers as the flowering spike rises, reaching 1.2 to 1.8 m. In June-July it bears a long, dense spike of burnt-orange buds opening to vivid peach-orange, striped dark red on the reverse, with orange anthers. It needs fertile, sharply drained soil, full sun, and shallow planting, as the roots are prone to winter rot.