Turk's cap lily
Lilium superbum · Liliaceae
The tallest native lily: up to forty nodding, orange, spotted flowers with swept-back petals on a stem that can reach well above head height, in midsummer.
- Size
- 6 ft tall, 12 in wide
- Zones
- 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Mid July to early August
- Pets
- Toxic (severe)
- Job in a bed
- Accent
A bed built around Turk's cap lily
The planner designed this bed around Turk's cap 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 Turk's cap lily stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei' × 8, pink
- 2 Leadwort × 8, blue
- 3 Tatarian aster 'Jindai' × 3, purple
- 4 Arborvitae 'Mr. Bowling Ball' × 1, grey-green leaves
- 5 Bergenia 'Bressingham White' × 8, white
- 6 Turk's cap lily × 4, orange
- 7 Red spider lily × 7, 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
- Anchors a back corner. At 6 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 bergenia 'Bressingham White' (14 in) 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: 6 of the 6 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Tatarian aster 'Jindai' and Turk's cap lily anchor the back corners of the bed: the tallest plants on the plan stand there. Cool colours (pink, blue and purple) with orange and red as the warm notes, and white to calm things between them.
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 Turk's cap lily goes in a border
At 6 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.
A spectacular native for moist, acid soil. Grow it through tall meadow plants or shrubs, which give it the cool root run it needs.
- Moist meadows and woodland edges
- Hummingbirds and swallowtail butterflies
- The back of a moist border
What to plant with Turk's cap lily
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Culver's root: in flower together for four weeks, from mid July; grows up in time to hide its dying leaves; happy in the same moist soil.
- Cinnamon fern: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; grows up in time to hide its dying leaves.
- New York ironweed: grows up in time to hide its dying leaves; happy in the same moist soil.
Questions about Turk's cap lily
Does Turk's cap lily need sun or shade?
Turk's cap 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 soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does Turk's cap lily grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 8. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °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 Turk's cap 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 5 | Mid July to early August |
|---|---|
| Zone 6 | Mid July to early August |
| Zone 7 | Mid July to early August |
| Zone 8 | 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 Turk's cap 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 6 ft (180 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many Turk's cap 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 four in two groups.
Is Turk's cap 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 Turk's cap 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 Turk's cap 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.
- Ornamental rhubarb: 6 ft tall and 5 ft wide, in flower late May to late June.
- Rodgersia: 4 ft tall and 4 ft wide, in flower late June to mid July.
What does Turk's cap lily look like in winter?
Turk's cap 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 Turk's cap lily good for bees and butterflies?
Turk's cap lily is visited by pollinators, butterflies and hummingbirds.
It is native to the United States.
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
- Trumpet lily Lilium (Trumpet hybrids)
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Bulb
- Size
- 6 ft (180 cm) tall, 12 in (30 cm) wide
- Plant
- 10 in (25 cm) apart
- Height class
- Very tall (5 to 6½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Mid July to early August; hanging bells; orange
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Liliaceae
- Comes from
- Eastern Central & Eastern U.S.A
- Attracts
- Pollinators, 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.