Garden Highlights

Don't miss our Garden Highlights, updated every Thursday featuring plants for their outstanding ornamental characteristics. Discover everything from flowers to fruit, buds, bark and more. You can search for specific plants using the Plant Finder

Featured: Oct. 2-8

Common Name: Toad-lily
Scientific Name: Tricyrtis hirta

Tricyrtis hirta, commonly known as toad-lily or Japanese toad-lily, is a unique shade-loving perennial that shines in the fall. The blooms resemble the flowers of both orchids and true lilies (Lilium), but toad-lilies do not belong to either classification. Though sharing the same taxonomic family as true lilies, Liliaceae, toad-lily belongs to the genus Tricyrtis, which includes about 20 unique species. The toad-lily exhibits one of the last blooms of the fall season.

Though often overlooked due to its small size and its preferred location in the shade, the plant’s flowers have a delicate — though eye-catching — appearance. The spotted blooms remain intact for about a month until the first frost. In the wild, toad-lily is found growing in Japan on rocky cliffsides and along shaded stream edges. Several cultivars of this plant are available in the nursery trade with variation in flowers, foliage and form.

At the Arboretum, toad-lilies can be found at the edge of the Lily Collection, blooming early in the fall season.

Garden Highlights

Featured: Oct. 2-8

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