Oriental lily 'Stargazer'
Lilium 'Stargazer' · Liliaceae Popular
Upward-facing flowers of crimson-pink, spotted darker and edged in white, with a heavy, spicy scent that fills a garden.
- Size
- 3½ ft tall, 12 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 9
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Late July to mid August
- Pets
- Toxic (severe)
- Job in a bed
- Accent
A bed built around oriental lily 'Stargazer'
The planner designed this bed around oriental lily 'Stargazer' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why oriental lily 'Stargazer' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Dianthus 'Kahori' × 8, pink
- 2 Leadwort × 8, blue
- 3 Foxglove beardtongue × 5, white
- 4 Tatarian aster 'Jindai' × 3, purple
- 5 Globe arborvitae 'Danica' × 1, green leaves
- 6 Caucasian scabious 'Fama' × 3, blue
- 7 Oriental lily 'Stargazer' × 1, pink
- 8 Camassia × 2, blue
Why this plant
- The only trumpets. The others are open bowls, dense clusters, spires and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
Why here
- In the middle. At 3½ ft it is seen over dianthus 'Kahori' (8 in) in front of it.
- One plant. An accent is used singly, like a punctuation mark.
Why now
- In flower for four weeks. From late July to mid August.
- Part of the bed's peak. With dianthus 'Kahori', leadwort and caucasian scabious 'Fama' in early August: 4 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 6 groups (83%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The flowering is at its height from early August, with 4 kinds out together. Dianthus 'Kahori' flowers longest, for 17 weeks.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 5 Good.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where oriental lily 'Stargazer' goes in a border
At 3½ ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is moderately tall (3 to 4 ft).
Its job: accent. An upright plant used singly, like a punctuation mark, and repeated at intervals to give the bed rhythm.
The first Oriental lily to look up, not down, and the best-known lily in the world. Three bulbs in a group are enough to scent a terrace.
- Scent on a terrace
- Cutting
- Containers
What to plant with oriental lily 'Stargazer'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Garden phlox: in flower together for four weeks, from late July; grows up in time to hide its dying leaves; happy in the same moist soil.
- Shasta daisy 'Becky': in flower together for four weeks, from late July.
- Lady's mantle: flowers first, late May to early July, so the spot is never empty; grows up in time to hide its dying leaves; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about oriental lily 'Stargazer'
Does oriental lily 'Stargazer' need sun or shade?
Oriental lily 'Stargazer' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does oriental lily 'Stargazer' grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 9. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does oriental lily 'Stargazer' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late July to mid August. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Early August to late August |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late July to mid August |
| Zone 6 | Late July to mid August |
| Zone 7 | Mid July to early August |
| Zone 8 | Mid July to early August |
| Zone 9 | Mid July to early August |
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 oriental lily 'Stargazer' be planted?
12 in (30 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is about its full width, so each plant keeps its own outline.
It grows 3½ ft (100 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many oriental lily 'Stargazer' plants do I need?
At 12 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 12 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 11 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 38 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 one in one group.
Is oriental lily 'Stargazer' 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.
Is there a pet-safe plant like oriental lily 'Stargazer'?
These come closest to doing what oriental lily 'Stargazer' does, and no toxicity is recorded for them:
- Blazing star: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same flowering time; purple, not pink, fine leaves, not medium.
- Purple moor grass 'Moorhexe': the same job in a bed; 10 in shorter, flowers mid July to early September.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What can I plant to hide oriental lily 'Stargazer''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:
- Peony: 3 ft tall and 3 ft wide, in flower late May to late June.
- Blue false indigo: 4 ft tall and 4 ft wide, in flower late May to mid June.
- Daylily: 2½ ft tall and 24 in wide, in flower late June to early August.
What does oriental lily 'Stargazer' look like in winter?
Oriental lily 'Stargazer' 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)
- Canada lily Lilium canadense
- 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'
- 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 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8 · Zone 9
Every fact on record
- Type
- Bulb
- Size
- 3½ ft (100 cm) tall, 12 in (30 cm) wide
- Plant
- 12 in (30 cm) apart
- Height class
- Moderately tall (3 to 4 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Late July to mid August; trumpets; pink, red, white
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; dark green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 9
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Moderate, in spring
- Family
- Liliaceae
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.