Tiger lily
Lilium lancifolium · Liliaceae Popular
Orange, black-spotted flowers with petals curled right back, up to twenty on a stem, in late summer. Small black bulbils form where the leaves join the stem.
- Size
- 4 ft tall, 12 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 9
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Late July to late August
- Pets
- Toxic (severe)
- Job in a bed
- Accent
A bed built around tiger lily
The planner designed this bed around tiger 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 tiger lily stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei' × 6, pink
- 2 Leadwort × 13, blue
- 3 False sunflower 'Summer Sun' × 3, yellow
- 4 Tatarian aster 'Jindai' × 3, purple
- 5 Arborvitae 'Mr. Bowling Ball' × 1, grey-green leaves
- 6 Bergenia 'Bressingham White' × 3, white
- 7 Tiger lily × 1, orange
- 8 Red spider lily × 8, red
Why this plant
- The only bells. The others are open bowls, dense clusters, daisies and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only orange.
Why here
- Forward of its place. At 4 ft it belongs at the back of the bed: this far forward it stands in the way of what is behind it.
- One plant. An accent is used singly, like a punctuation mark.
Why now
- In flower for five weeks. From late July to late August.
- Part of the bed's peak. With bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei', leadwort and false sunflower 'Summer Sun' in early August: 4 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 7 groups (86%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Hot and cool in equal measure: yellow, orange and red against pink, blue and purple, with white to calm things between them. The front edge is finished with bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei' and leadwort.
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 tiger 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.
Almost indestructible, and it returns for decades. It can carry lily viruses without showing them, so grow it well away from other lilies.
- Old-fashioned cottage gardens
- Late-summer colour
- The easiest lily
What to plant with tiger lily
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Daylily: in flower together for three weeks, from late July; grows up in time to hide its dying leaves.
- Black-eyed Susan: in flower together for five weeks, from late July; grows up in time to hide its dying leaves; low enough (24 in) to stand in front of it.
- Garden phlox: purple against orange, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for five weeks; grows up in time to hide its dying leaves.
Questions about tiger lily
Does tiger lily need sun or shade?
Tiger lily 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 ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does tiger lily grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 9. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does tiger lily flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late July to late August. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 3 | Early August to late August |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Early August to late August |
| Zone 5 | Late July to late August |
| Zone 6 | Late July to late August |
| Zone 7 | Mid July to mid August |
| Zone 8 | Mid July to mid 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 tiger 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 tiger 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 one in one group.
Is tiger 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 NC State Extension and the ASPCA. Where references disagree, the more cautious rating is used.
Do deer eat tiger 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.
Will tiger lily spread?
It spreads sideways, by runners or roots; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Spreads by the small black bulbils that form along the stem and drop to the ground. Pick them off to limit seedlings.
What can I plant to hide tiger 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:
- Daylily: 2½ ft tall and 24 in wide, a recorded partner, in flower late June to early August.
- 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.
What does tiger lily look like in winter?
Tiger 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 tiger lily good for bees and butterflies?
Tiger lily is visited by butterflies and hummingbirds.
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'
- Regal lily Lilium regale
- 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 · Zone 9
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 July to late August; hanging bells; orange
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Upright, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 9
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Liliaceae
- Comes from
- Russia, China, Japan, Tibet
- Attracts
- Butterflies, hummingbirds
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.