Checkered lily
Fritillaria meleagris · Liliaceae
Nodding, square-shouldered bells patterned in a purple and white checkerboard, on thin stems in spring. A plant of damp meadows.
- Size
- 12 in tall, 4 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Mid April to early May
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Bulb layer
A bed built around checkered lily
The planner designed this bed around checkered 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 checkered lily stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei' × 7, pink
- 2 Creeping mahonia × 8, yellow
- 3 Foxglove beardtongue × 3, white
- 4 Brown-eyed Susan × 3, yellow
- 5 Deutzia 'Chardonnay Pearls' × 1, white
- 6 Coral bells 'Berry Smoothie' × 5, red leaves
- 7 Checkered lily × 12, purple
Why this plant
- The only purple.
Why here
- In the middle. At 12 in it stands ahead of coral bells 'Berry Smoothie' (18 in) without hiding it.
- 12 plants in 2 handfuls. In the gaps between other plants, which fill the space when the bulb is not in growth.
Why now
- In flower for four weeks. From mid April to early May.
- Part of the bed's peak. With creeping mahonia and deutzia 'Chardonnay Pearls' in early May: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
- Leaves gone by midsummer. They die back and leave bare ground. A perennial that comes up late stands beside it, and grows over the gap.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 6 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Brown-eyed Susan and foxglove beardtongue anchor the back corners of the bed: the tallest plants on the plan stand there. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 50 to 50, left to right.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 4 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where checkered lily goes in a border
At 12 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is low (6 to 12 in).
Its job: bulb layer. Small bulbs planted in handfuls of five or seven in the gaps between other plants, for colour before the perennials wake up.
The checkered pattern has to be seen close up. It wants soil that stays moist in spring and looks most natural in grass.
- Naturalising in damp grass
- Close-up interest beside a path
- Moist woodland edges
What to plant with checkered lily
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- English primrose: purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for four weeks; low enough (6 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same moist soil.
- Daffodil: purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for four weeks.
- Camassia: takes over when it finishes, flowering from mid May; tall enough (2½ ft) to stand behind it; happy in the same moist soil.
Questions about checkered lily
Does checkered lily need sun or shade?
Checkered 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 checkered 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 checkered lily flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid April to early May. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 3 | Early May to late May |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Late April to mid May |
| Zone 5 | Mid April to early May |
| Zone 6 | Mid April to early May |
| Zone 7 | Early April to late April |
| Zone 8 | Late March to mid April |
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 checkered lily be planted?
3 in (8 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 4 in (10 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 12 in (30 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many checkered lily plants do I need?
At 3 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 168 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 39 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 536 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as handfuls of five or seven, in the gaps between other plants.
In the bed above, the planner used 12 in two groups.
Is checkered lily poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat checkered lily?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer and rabbits. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What can I plant to hide checkered 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:
- Hosta: 18 in tall and 2½ ft wide, in flower mid July to mid August.
- Lady's mantle: 18 in tall and 24 in wide, in flower late May to early July.
- Catmint 'Walker's Low': 24 in tall and 2½ ft wide, in flower mid May to mid September.
What does checkered lily look like in winter?
Checkered 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 Fritillaria
- Crown imperial Fritillaria imperialis
- Persian fritillary Fritillaria persica
In these guides
- Deer-resistant plants for shade
- Rabbit-resistant plants
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Pet-safe plants for shade
- Plants for a white garden
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Bulb
- Size
- 12 in (30 cm) tall, 4 in (10 cm) wide
- Plant
- 3 in (8 cm) apart
- Height class
- Low (6 to 12 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Mid April to early May; hanging bells; purple, white
- Leaves
- Fine texture, summer-dormant; 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
- Family
- Liliaceae
- Comes from
- Eastern Europe and East Russia
- Stands up to
- Deer, rabbits
Checked against NC State Extension. 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.