Trumpet lily
Lilium (Trumpet hybrids) · Liliaceae
Long, flared, powerfully scented trumpets in white, gold, pink or apricot, on tall stems in midsummer.
- Size
- 5 ft tall, 14 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Mid July to early August
- Pets
- Toxic (severe)
- Job in a bed
- Accent
A bed built around trumpet lily
The planner designed this bed around trumpet 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 trumpet lily stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei' × 8, pink
- 2 Leadwort × 16, blue
- 3 Tatarian aster 'Jindai' × 3, purple
- 4 Arborvitae 'Mr. Bowling Ball' × 1, grey-green leaves
- 5 Bergenia 'Bressingham White' × 5, white
- 6 Trumpet lily × 4, yellow
- 7 Red spider lily × 7, red
Why this plant
- The only trumpets. The others are open bowls, dense clusters, daisies and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only yellow.
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 Tatarian aster 'Jindai' (4 ft) and arborvitae 'Mr. Bowling Ball' (2½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 4 plants in 2 places. An accent is a punctuation mark: the repeat along the bed gives it rhythm.
Why now
- In flower for four weeks. From mid July to early August.
- Part of the bed's peak. With bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei' and leadwort in early August: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 5 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The bed is balanced: the left half carries 52% of the visual weight and the right half 48%. The bed is tied together by its repeats: two kinds come round again along it, leadwort and bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei'.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 5 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 trumpet 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 very tall (5 to 6½ ft).
Its job: accent. An upright plant used singly, like a punctuation mark, and repeated at intervals to give the bed rhythm.
Majestic and heavily perfumed. The big flower heads may need staking, and the emerging shoots need protection from late frost.
- Scent on summer evenings
- Tall accents
- Cut flowers
What to plant with trumpet lily
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Delphinium: purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for two weeks; grows up in time to hide its dying leaves.
- 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.
- Shasta daisy 'Becky': in flower together for four weeks, from mid July.
Questions about trumpet lily
Does trumpet lily need sun or shade?
Trumpet 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.
What zones does trumpet 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 trumpet lily flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid July to early August. 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 | Mid July to early August |
| Zone 6 | Mid July to early August |
| Zone 7 | Early July to late July |
| Zone 8 | Early July to late 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 trumpet lily be planted?
12 in (30 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 14 in (35 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 5 ft (160 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many trumpet lily 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 four in two groups.
Is trumpet 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 trumpet 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.
- Citron daylily: 3½ ft tall and 2½ ft wide, in flower mid July to late August.
- Armenian cranesbill: 3½ ft tall and 3½ ft wide, in flower mid June to late July.
What does trumpet lily look like in winter?
Trumpet 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
- 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
- Tiger lily Lilium lancifolium
- Turk's cap lily Lilium superbum
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Bulb
- Size
- 5 ft (160 cm) tall, 14 in (35 cm) wide
- Plant
- 12 in (30 cm) apart
- Height class
- Very tall (5 to 6½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Mid July to early August; trumpets; white, yellow, pink, orange
- Leaves
- Medium 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
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.