Martagon lily
Lilium martagon ·
Tall stems carry dozens of small, nodding, turk's-cap flowers in dusky pink, purple or white above whorls of leaves, in early summer. It is the lily for shade.
- Size
- 4 ft tall, 12 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 7
- Light
- Part sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Late June to mid July
- Pets
- Toxic (severe)
- Job in a bed
- Accent
A bed built around martagon lily
The planner designed this bed around martagon 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 martagon lily stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Moor grass 'Greenlee' × 8, tan
- 2 Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' × 22, yellow
- 3 Brown-eyed Susan × 3, yellow
- 4 Purple milkweed × 3, purple
- 5 Pieris 'Little Heath' × 1, variegated leaves
- 6 Blue-eyed grass × 8, blue
- 7 Martagon lily × 3, pink
- 8 Surprise lily × 7, pink
Why this plant
- The only bells. The others are spires, daisies, flat plates and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 4 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 purple milkweed (3 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one clump. A single spire is too slight to hold a place alone, so here the accent is a clump.
Why now
- In flower for four weeks. From late June to mid July.
- Part of the bed's peak. With moor grass 'Greenlee', purple milkweed and blue-eyed grass in late June: 4 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 6 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Martagon lily and brown-eyed Susan anchor the back corners of the bed: the tallest plants on the plan stand there. Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' repeats along the bed to tie it together.
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 martagon lily goes in a border
At 4 ft it belongs at the back 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.
It is slow to settle and may sulk for a year, then lives and multiplies for decades. Thread it among hostas and ferns, which hide its lower stem.
- Lilies for woodland and part shade
- Naturalising among shrubs
- Long-lived colonies
What to plant with martagon lily
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Hosta: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; grows up in time to hide its dying leaves; bold leaves against its medium ones.
- Lady fern: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; grows up in time to hide its dying leaves.
- Astilbe: in flower together for four weeks, from late June; grows up in time to hide its dying leaves; low enough (24 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about martagon lily
Does martagon lily need sun or shade?
Martagon lily grows in 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 ordinary well-drained soil, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does martagon lily grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 7. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 7 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 martagon 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 | Late June to mid July |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Late June to mid July |
| Zone 5 | Late June to mid July |
| Zone 6 | Late June to mid July |
| Zone 7 | Mid June to early 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 martagon 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 4 ft (120 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many martagon 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 three in one group.
Is martagon 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 martagon 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.
- Hosta 'Empress Wu': 4 ft tall and 6 ft wide, in flower late June to late July.
- Bleeding heart: 2½ ft tall and 24 in wide, in flower early May to early June.
What does martagon lily look like in winter?
Martagon 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)
- Canada lily Lilium canadense
- Easter lily Lilium longiflorum
- Henry's lily Lilium henryi
- Madonna lily Lilium candidum
- 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
Every fact on record
- Type
- Bulb
- Size
- 4 ft (120 cm) tall, 12 in (30 cm) wide
- Plant
- 10 in (25 cm) apart
- Height class
- Moderately tall (3 to 4 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Late June to mid July; hanging bells; pink, purple, white
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 7
- Light
- Part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Rich, well-drained
- 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.