Regal lily
Lilium regale · Liliaceae
Large white trumpets, flushed purple outside with a yellow throat, in clusters at the top of tall stems in midsummer. The scent carries across the garden in the evening.
- Size
- 5 ft tall, 12 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Early July to late July
- Pets
- Toxic (severe)
- Job in a bed
- Accent
A bed built around regal lily
The planner designed this bed around regal lily 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 regal lily stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Dianthus 'Kahori' × 5, pink
- 2 Leadwort × 19, blue
- 3 Foxglove beardtongue × 3, white
- 4 Tatarian aster 'Jindai' × 3, purple
- 5 Globe arborvitae 'Danica' × 1, green leaves
- 6 Regal lily × 3, white
- 7 Golden garlic × 8, yellow
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
- 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): 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 early July to late July.
- In company. With dianthus 'Kahori' in early July: 2 kinds at once.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 5 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Dianthus 'Kahori' flowers longest, for 17 weeks. Leadwort is the plant there is most of: 19 of the 42.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 4 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 regal 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.
One of the easiest and most rewarding lilies. Plant it among peonies and other bushy perennials that shade its roots and hold up its stems.
- Fragrance in the evening garden
- Tall accents in the border
- Cut flowers
What to plant with regal lily
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Peony: flowers first, late May to late June, so the spot is never empty; grows up in time to hide its dying leaves; low enough (3 ft) to stand in front of it.
- Delphinium: in flower together for three weeks, from early July; grows up in time to hide its dying leaves.
- Lady's mantle: grows up in time to hide its dying leaves; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about regal lily
Does regal lily need sun or shade?
Regal lily grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does regal lily grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °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 regal lily flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early July to late July. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Mid July to early August |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Early July to late July |
| Zone 6 | Early July to late 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 regal 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 regal 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 regal lily poisonous to cats?
Yes: severe toxicity to people and cats. Extremely poisonous to cats: every part, including the pollen and the water from a vase, can cause kidney failure. May cause stomach upset in people if eaten.
It is not recorded as toxic to dogs, but it is to people.
Rated from NC State Extension and the ASPCA. Where references disagree, the more cautious rating is used.
Do deer eat regal lily?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
What can I plant to hide regal 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:
- Peony: 3 ft tall and 3 ft wide, a recorded partner, in flower late May to late June.
- Blue false indigo: 4 ft tall and 4 ft wide, in flower late May to mid June.
- Citron daylily: 3½ ft tall and 2½ ft wide, in flower mid July to late August.
What does regal lily look like in winter?
Regal 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.
Is regal lily good for bees and butterflies?
Regal lily is visited by butterflies.
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'
- Oriental lily 'Stargazer' Lilium 'Stargazer'
- 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
In flower in: July
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
- Early July to late July; trumpets; white
- Leaves
- Fine texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Rich, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Liliaceae
- Comes from
- Western Sichuan Province in south-central China
- Attracts
- Butterflies
- Stands up to
- Drought, heat
Checked against NC State Extension and 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.