Canada lily
Lilium canadense ·
Nodding, bell-shaped flowers in yellow, orange or red, spotted inside, hang from the arching arms of a tall candelabra in early summer. A native of moist meadows.
- Size
- 5 ft tall, 12 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Late June to mid July
- Pets
- Toxic (severe)
- Job in a bed
- Accent
A bed built around Canada lily
The planner designed this bed around Canada lily when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, part sun. It chose the other plants from the 708 that suit those conditions, and says below why Canada lily stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei' × 8, pink
- 2 Creeping mahonia × 11, yellow
- 3 Foxglove beardtongue × 3, white
- 4 Brown-eyed Susan × 3, yellow
- 5 Deutzia 'Chardonnay Pearls' × 1, white
- 6 Canada lily × 4, orange
- 7 Surprise lily × 7, pink
Why this plant
- The only orange.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 5 ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to foxglove beardtongue (3½ ft) and deutzia 'Chardonnay Pearls' (2½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 4 plants in 2 places. An accent is a punctuation mark: the repeat along the bed gives it rhythm.
Why now
- In flower for four weeks. From late June to mid July.
- Part of the bed's peak. With bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei' and foxglove beardtongue in late June: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 4 of the 5 groups (80%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 52 to 48, left to right. The bed is tied together by its repeats: two kinds come round again along it, creeping mahonia and bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei'.
The planner's own design check: 9 Excellent, 7 Good, 1 Satisfactory.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where Canada lily goes in a border
At 5 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is tall (4 to 5 ft).
Its job: accent. An upright plant used singly, like a punctuation mark, and repeated at intervals to give the bed rhythm.
The most graceful native lily. It wants moist, acid soil and its roots in shade, among ferns. It is a favourite food of deer.
- Native moist meadows and woodland edges
- Elegant vertical accents
- Hummingbird gardens
What to plant with Canada lily
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Cinnamon fern: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; grows up in time to hide its dying leaves.
- Swamp milkweed: in flower together for three weeks, from early July; grows up in time to hide its dying leaves; happy in the same moist soil.
- Culver's root: in flower together for three weeks, from early July; grows up in time to hide its dying leaves; happy in the same moist soil.
Questions about Canada lily
Does Canada lily need sun or shade?
Canada lily grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day), part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun) and part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does Canada lily grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does Canada lily flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late June to mid July. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 3 | Early July to late July |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Early July to late July |
| Zone 5 | Late June to mid July |
| Zone 6 | Late June to mid July |
| Zone 7 | Late June to mid July |
| Zone 8 | Late June to mid July |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should Canada lily be planted?
10 in (25 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 12 in (30 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 5 ft (150 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many Canada lily plants do I need?
At 10 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 17 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 13 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 55 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one at a time, repeated along the bed at intervals; a slender one reads better as a clump of three.
In the bed above, the planner used four in two groups.
Is Canada lily poisonous to cats?
Yes: severe toxicity to cats. Extremely poisonous to cats: every part, including the pollen and the water from a vase, can cause kidney failure. Not considered poisonous to dogs or people.
It is not recorded as toxic to dogs.
Rated from the ASPCA. Where references disagree, the more cautious rating is used.
What can I plant to hide Canada lily's leaves after it flowers?
A bulb's leaves have to be left to yellow for about six weeks after flowering, to feed next year's flowers. Plant it among perennials that come up late and spread wide, and they grow over the leaves as they fade:
- Blue false indigo: 4 ft tall and 4 ft wide, in flower late May to mid June.
- Peony: 3 ft tall and 3 ft wide, in flower late May to late June.
- Hosta 'Empress Wu': 4 ft tall and 6 ft wide, in flower late June to late July.
What does Canada lily look like in winter?
Canada lily is underground: it dies back after flowering and waits as a bulb until spring. Mark where it is, so a fork does not find it first.
More Lilium
- Asiatic lily Lilium (Asiatic hybrids)
- Easter lily Lilium longiflorum
- Henry's lily Lilium henryi
- Madonna lily Lilium candidum
- Martagon lily Lilium martagon
- Orienpet lily Lilium (Orienpet hybrids)
- Oriental lily Lilium (Oriental hybrids)
- Oriental lily 'Casa Blanca' Lilium 'Casa Blanca'
- Oriental lily 'Stargazer' Lilium 'Stargazer'
- Regal lily Lilium regale
- Tiger lily Lilium lancifolium
- Trumpet lily Lilium (Trumpet hybrids)
- Turk's cap lily Lilium superbum
In these guides
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Bulb
- Size
- 5 ft (150 cm) tall, 12 in (30 cm) wide
- Plant
- 10 in (25 cm) apart
- Height class
- Tall (4 to 5 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Late June to mid July; hanging bells; yellow, orange, red
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
Checked against ASPCA poison lists. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.