When I first saw the Eucharist Lily, I had to lift the bloom to look at it properly. The shy lily seemed intent on hiding its glorious beauty from the world. And it was really, really beautiful.
It looks like a daffodil; only the petals are pure white and it has a pale green corona. Each fleshy stalk carries up to eight blooms.
Eucharis (from the Greek word ‘kharisma’) means ‘grace’ or ‘charm’, and in Latin, it means ‘elegant’. I think the flower has been aptly named.
The price tag for the pot of Eucharist Lily stunned me. I had to forgo the treasure but it became my mission to find a cheaper version elsewhere.
I found it.
This tropical lily has been in the garden for a few years now. It is an easy plant to care for and isn’t prone to disease. It loves the warmth and high humidity and has taken everything that the tropical weather has been dishing out in its stride.
The lily has since grown into a nice clump and I’ve had the chance to share its bulbs with friends who’ve been admiring the plant.
For a long while my Eucharist lily has bloomed just once a year. The rest of the time, I’ve been content with its handsome broad leaves.
Lately though, the clump of Eucharist lilies has been blooming more often; four times over the last three months and I’m still counting.
I am still in the habit of lifting each bloom to look at its full beauty. I wonder if the Eucharist lily will ever realise that its own stunning beauty and hold its head up high.
.
Care and propagation: Bright indirect light, well drained soil, water moderately. Propagation: division of bulbs.
Lovely:) You grew them from bulbs? Seldom seen this in Singapore. Spider lilies are a common sight.
bought a pot of it, i think it is not commonly grown but i do know of singaporeans who have it in their gardens. 🙂
Coincidentally I saw this lily for the first time 2 weeks ago at a nursery and because its white my favorite I immediately took a liking to it but was not able to get it that day. Later went to another nursery and saw same plant costing almost 3x more. Next day immediately went back to get the 1st 🙂 luckily it was still there, the last pot RM13, moreover planted in nice clay pot!
i’m so happy for you!
yes, some of the nurseries charge the earth and it can be so painful when you have to leave the plant behind.
Hi all,
I would dearly love to get hold of this gorgeous plant. Do share on the nurseries where you came across it.
Hi Farah. Where are you located?
Hi Farah
U can go to the obscure nursery next to Potter’s garden in Sg Buloh (LDP) and ask the Indian man manning the nursery. He has some pots at the back RM10/. I told him to put out front cuz he’s nursery looks kind of pathetic no customers very poor thing
ok, will have a look. it’s not inside sg B then… thanks! 🙂
Sorry for my terrible grammar, typing too fast.. 😛
Make sure side nursery not Potter’s garden or the one at the back.
Ty
Now that I look closely , I have the dark red one which hasn’t bloomed for a while. Didn’t know it is called swamp lily. Spider lily I always thought is that white one with very thin petals that you always find on road sides?
I hv seen the pink swamp lily as well which is very pretty.
These grow well here, and I love its fragrance. I keep mine in a pot and I’ve heard that they don’t like being disturbed, refusing to flower for several years if they’re moved or divided. Indeed, I’ve had mine for some years and this was the first time it flowered. Here’s some good info: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FP/FP19800.pdf
where can I get a swamp lily?? would love to have one??
My lily bloomed on Christmas Day this year. What a Christmas present. I almost threw this plant away. It was in a pot in an inherited garden and never did anything. No one knew what it was. Very few leaves, then all of a sudden, after five years it took off. It bloomed for the first time last year. It is incredibly lovely!
what a lovely Christmas surprise that must have been. i just love its purity.
Can anyone tell me why my Eucharist Lily has balck tips on it’s leaves? What am I doing wrong?
I have one of these beauties and also inherited it from a garden left behind, it was left next to a tree only had one narrow leaf, I moved it to a pot and it is starting to bloom, we live in central Florida and I have it on a north porch with a fountain and absolutely love it. It seems to do very well with just the splash of the fountain water. It gets only strong light no direct sun.
This plant is a joy. What do I do with the wilting flower heads, and do I cut down the stem when it has finished flowering. At the moment I am cutting off the dead flowers just above the node. Is that correct?
i cut the stem right down to the base, Bruce. notice you’re located in UK – do you grow your plant in the conservatory?
Hi,
I’ve only just bought it. It came from a garden centre (£5) and I have it in the sitting room. Looks great.
Thanks for the advice
please tell us how it grows for you, ok?
[…] Eucharist Lily (Eucharis amazonica) […]
Glad of all the advice. I’ve just received a beautiful present of one, and didn’t know how to look after it.
Eileen
i’m sure you’ll love the plant, Eileen.
Hi does anyone know of any chance to get a white tacca? Am located in singapore
i know of someone who is also on the lookout for this. will alert you if he finds it.
White tacca in malaysia? anyone?
How beatiful are your flowers, i love how you have been part of the blooming process, I just got one last week, and it wasnt that expensive, I live in El Salvador, and cant wait to see its flowers.
Dorothea
I live in Pretoria (South Africa). I do not think I will be able to grow this beautiful lily in my garden. We have very hot summers and rain and the winter is cold and dry. At the end of winter we get what we call black frost which cause all new growth to turn black and die (like my roses’ new leaves!). However I keep my Eucharist Lily in a big pot in the house in a fairly warm room with big windows and it flowers more or less twice a year. The flowers as well as the leaves of the plant looks beautiful in a room.
I am a very keen gardener and loves every plant in my garden. Since I can’t manage the garden on my own I employ a gardener whom I trained well. To work in a garden and watch the plants flower and grow is like therapy for me.
02 February 2014
I’ve had one in a pot for about four years and the most I ever got was a couple of leaves. I’ve just decided to dig it out and I see that the potting soil was very dense and quite hard. I think that’s maybe why its never done well. going to try potting it in a looser compost
My Eucharist Lilly is now 23 years old – it’s multiplied in size and flowers regularly around Easter Time ( amazingly at the Eucharist period)! My plant been grow indoors and enjoys filtered north facing sunlight. For the first time in all these years my plant has produced three stems of flowers, and it’s nothing but “gorgeous” – Just wished the magnificent flowers would hold up their heads, but they seem to simply and discretely prefer to face downwards almost like a shy beautiful young women! I have a collection of photos taken over the years when the plant comes into bloom – but this year I said that’s enough photos – lets just enjoy the magnificence of the annual flowering. So rewarding to have a plant like this in my home – it’s almost like family now especially being 23 years old.
I have had the plant since my grandmother passed it on to me in 1977.
Mine is in full bloom now with 6 stems loaded with blooms. I live in Land O Lands, FL
Fabulous, Glenn. A lovely plant to have.
Hi I love this flower and am having it in my wedding bouquet. I wondered if you could tell me roughly how big the flower is as I’m thinking of having one of them preserved as a keepsake. Thank you Ash
it’s about 7 cm across, Ash. Would love to see your wedding bouquet!
How deeply are you supposed to plant the bulbs? I have been given some that were clearly planted too deeply but don’t know what to do now.
i plant mine about 3-4 inches below the surface. how deeply are yours planted?
Eucharis(t) from the Gk ‘kharismos’ meaning ‘grace’ and ‘charm’. In Latin ‘elegant’. Well named ! I was given one in a pot and told to ignore it. I obeyed to be rewarded in a short time by an achingly beautiful creation!
This plant remind me my childhood with my mother in El Salvador
We have had really cold weather and I am having trouble placing my lily. I have had to cut off the leaves as they were going yellow. I thought it was going to die. I now have on the kitchen sink. Where am I going wrong?
Hi there I have been looking everywhere to find a eukeris plant. The only place I could find one was in Nelspruit and I am living in Potchefstroom. Can you by chance direct me to a place nearer to Potchefstroom where I can make enquiries to buy a plant for my garden. Elsabe Swart
Hi Elzabe, there is a place called Die Tuinhoekie in Pretoria that sells them.
Cath.
I have had this exquitely beautiful lilly indoors in a pot since I brought back them from North Queensland about 19 years ago. Just three bulbs from a friend, put in a pot and left to themselves, watered well once a week, it flowers profusely every November/ December. I am trilled every year when the flowers come out, this year it has eight stems with each about six to eight flowers. It grows behind a glass window in a half shade but sunny position, depending on the season, all year round. The sun only comes through now in winter so the flowers aren’t too hot. I have keep it pot bound which has helped to form a real clump of bulbs. My pride and joy.
Cath.
My Lilly is now in it’s 18. year and flowers profusely around Nov/Dec. This year it had eight stems with each 6 to 7 flower heads. I don’t really do anything special, but it is in one spot behind a glass window which only has direct sunlight in the winter. I imported three bulbs from north Queensland and I have it pot bound watering it once a week sometimes only every two weeks. Otherwise I just remove the dead leaves. It is best left alone. I feel very fortunate to have this exquisite lilly, which brings me such joy when it flowers. With it’s beautiful flower heads and delicate points. A real wonder of nature.
Love these. I had a whole long winding raised natural stone bed full of just Eucharis amazonica. The foliage is quiet nice in a dense planting. They always flowered very well once a year, carpet of long lasting lovely fresh white and as it was a raised bed that you needed to climb a few steps reaching you could see their shy faces nicely. I used to just remove spent flower petals as they droop and look a bit rotten, otherwise completely maintenance free. In the beginning when I first planted the dry bulbs out flowering was sporadic for a few years. They need to settle and grow a good root system and seem to like being crowded at the root and don’t like disturbance.
I managed to get sacks and sacks of these, big dry bulbs for very little at Chatuchak plant market in Bangkok. Where one growing pot of them was very expensive and rare here. However they are already flowering bought growing in pots as the roots are established already.
Sadly something happened to them! They started vanishing one by one. One Christmas I went home for three weeks and came back to my home here and they were almost all gone. Pulling up one of the last ones left I saw that something had completely eaten away the bulb underneath. I assume some kind of ground rodent, bamboo rat or mole I have no idea, maybe ground grubs, I couldn’t find the culprits. I was devastated as Bangkok is a good two hours flight away and I didn’t feel like starting the whole project again which had taken quite an effort.
I did however then discover the white flowering Prophis amboinensis, also in Bangkok, these like a little more sunshine. They are what I call “tropical hostas” as the leaf is very big, very attractive, almost exactly like a giant hosta but stunningly glossy. They have similar white flowers as Eucharis with the same umbel arrangement , on tall strong spikes. So I went mad and bough sacks of these for a very good price. They are still doing very well and the foliage is much nicer than Eucharis even if the flowers aren’t maybe quite as charming they are still very attractive. I haven’t put them back in that same bed, just don’t dare.