Toad lily
Tricyrtis hirta · Liliaceae
Small, orchid-like flowers, white and heavily spotted with purple, sit all along arching, hairy stems in autumn. They need to be seen close up.
- Size
- 2½ ft tall, 20 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Part shade to shade
- Flowers
- Mid September to mid October
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around toad lily
The planner designed this bed around toad lily when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, part shade. It chose the other plants from the 513 that suit those conditions, and says below why toad lily stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Toad lily × 3, purple
- 2 Blue star creeper × 8, blue
- 3 Lungwort × 5, pink
- 4 Northern sea oats × 5, tan
- 5 Foxglove × 3, white
- 6 Inkberry 'Gem Box' × 1, dark green leaves
- 7 Yellow trout lily × 8, yellow
- 8 Snowdrop × 5, white
Why this plant
- The only purple.
Why here
- In the middle. At 2½ ft it is seen over lungwort (12 in) in front of it.
- 3 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for six weeks. From mid September to mid October.
- Closes the season. For its last four weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 6 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Cool colours (purple, blue and pink) with yellow as the warm note, and tan and white to calm things between them. Blue star creeper, fine in leaf, stands next to bold-leaved foxglove, and each shows the other off.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 3 Good, 1 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Foxglove is highly poisonous to people, dogs, cats and horses. Northern sea oats spreads aggressively.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where toad lily goes in a border
At 2½ ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium (24 in to 2½ ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
The flowers are intricate and small, so plant it at the edge of a path. It is among the last shade plants to bloom, when the hostas beside it are turning gold.
- Autumn flowers for shade
- Beside a shady path or seat
- With hostas and ferns
What to plant with toad 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; bold leaves against its medium ones; happy in the same moist soil.
- Japanese anemone: in flower together for four weeks, from mid September; happy in the same moist soil.
- Japanese forest grass 'Aureola': its chartreuse leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; low enough (16 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same moist soil.
Questions about toad lily
Does toad lily need sun or shade?
Toad lily grows in part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning) and shade (less than 2 hours of direct sun, or bright dappled light). It is one of the few that also put up with deep shade.
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does toad 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 toad lily flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid September to mid October. As an autumn flower it keeps much the same dates in every zone: it answers to shortening days and cool nights more than to the warmth of spring.
| Zone 4 | Mid September to mid October |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Mid September to mid October |
| Zone 6 | Mid September to mid October |
| Zone 7 | Mid September to mid October |
| Zone 8 | Mid September to mid October |
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 toad lily be planted?
18 in (45 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 20 in (50 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 2½ ft (70 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many toad lily plants do I need?
At 18 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 5 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 17 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is toad 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.
Is there a native plant like toad lily?
Toad lily comes from Central & S. Japan. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Blue wood aster: the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; 8 in taller, lavender, not purple.
- Blue-stemmed goldenrod: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same flowering time; yellow, not purple, fine leaves, not medium.
- Turtlehead 'Hot Lips': the same job in a bed; 8 in taller, flowers mid August to late September.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat toad lily?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What does toad lily look like in winter?
Toad lily dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
Is toad lily good for bees and butterflies?
Toad lily is visited by bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.
More Tricyrtis
- Formosa toad lily Tricyrtis formosana
In these guides
- Plants for deep shade
- Deer-resistant plants for shade
- Pet-safe plants for shade
- Plants for hummingbirds
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants for bees
- Plants that flower in fall
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 2½ ft (70 cm) tall, 20 in (50 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium (24 in to 2½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Mid September to mid October; purple
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Arching, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Part shade, shade
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Liliaceae
- Comes from
- Central & S. Japan
- Attracts
- Bees, butterflies, hummingbirds
- Stands up to
- Deer, deep shade
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.