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Queen Emma Giant Spider Lily
Crinum augustum 'Queen Emma'
Height: 6 feet
Spread: 6 feet
Sunlight:
Hardiness Zone: 9b
Description:
An impressive centerpiece to the landscape; tall strappy foliage emerges burgundy and matures to green, forming an attractive clump; fuchsia and white flower clusters emerge on tall spikes year round; will tolerate some shade, and occasional wet soil
Ornamental Features
Queen Emma Giant Spider Lily features showy spikes of white spider-like flowers with fuchsia overtones rising above the foliage from mid to early winter. Its attractive large sword-like leaves emerge burgundy in spring, turning green in colour with showy burgundy variegation throughout the season.
Landscape Attributes
Queen Emma Giant Spider Lily is an herbaceous perennial with a shapely form and gracefully arching foliage. Its wonderfully bold, coarse texture can be very effective in a balanced garden composition.
This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It is a good choice for attracting bees and butterflies to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.
Queen Emma Giant Spider Lily is recommended for the following landscape applications;
Planting & Growing
Queen Emma Giant Spider Lily will grow to be about 6 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 6 feet. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen!
This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It is quite adaptable, prefering to grow in average to wet conditions, and will even tolerate some standing water. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America, and parts of it are known to be toxic to humans and animals, so care should be exercised in planting it around children and pets. It can be propagated by multiplication of the underground bulbs; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.
Queen Emma Giant Spider Lily is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its height, it is often used as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden. Be aware that in our climate, most plants cannot be expected to survive the winter if left in containers outdoors, and this plant is no exception. Contact our experts for more information on how to protect it over the winter months.
This plant is not reliably hardy in our region, and certain restrictions may apply; contact the store for more information.