Tricyrtis hirta
toad lily
liliaceaeStarry white or lilac flowers, heavily
speckled purple; soft, hairy, oval leaves
2–3 ft. high; 2 ft. wide
Part shade
Blooms September–October
zones 4–8
pruning If the seeds have a chance to
ripen before being hit by a frost (this is
seldom the case in my Ohio gardens),
young seedlings will appear at the base
of the plant in the spring, though
Tricyrtis hirta doesn’t seed aggressively.
If shorter, fuller plants are desired,
toad lily responds well to cutting backby half in early June. Flowering may be
slightly delayed with pruning. Plants
turn to mush when hit by a heavy
freeze, so cut them down for the
winter.
other maintenance Best
performance is in rich, high-organic
soil. Toad lilies are long-lived and easy
to grow, and seldom need division.
Division should be done in the spring,
if desired.
related plantS Tricyrtis hirta
‘Miyazaki’ is a seed strain with the
typical purple-speckled flowers on
2-ft.-tall stems. ‘White Towers’ is a
pure white form that comes true from
seed.
Tricyrtis formosana spreads by
stolons but not aggressively so.
Cutting it back by half in early June
produces a fuller plant that flowers at
2 ft. rather than 3 ft. and with 2 breaks
per stem. ‘Gilt Edge’ and ‘Samurai’ are
similar T. formosana selections that
feature yellow-margined leaves.
Tricyrtis hybrids include ‘Empress’,
known for its large flowers that open
wide (many toad lilies don’t seem to
want to open fully); ‘Sinonome’, which
has handsome foliage and more
drought tolerance than most; and
‘Tojen’, which has extra-large leaves
and opens its unspotted blossoms for a
long period, beginning in August.Tricyrtis hirta
Tricyrtis pruned before flowering
creates fuller, more heavily
branched plants, as shown here,
comparing the stem of a pruned
plant (left) with that of an
unpruned plant (right).