Toad Lily

Credit: Terra Nova Nurseries

It’s probably not the first plant you’ll pick up on a trip to the nursery or garden centre unless it is in flower.

It’s thought the name originated because many cultivars have spotted flowers, just as toads have spots.

Once established, tricyrtis makes lovely large non-invasive clumps and complements many late-blooming, shade-loving flowers or shrubs. Examples include Athyrium niponicum var. pictum, hostas of all shapes and sizes, both green and bronze carex (sedge) and late-flowering astilbes.

Blooms of Bressingham recently introduced a very floriferous type, Tricyrtis ‘ Taipei Silk’. Also new – this time from Terra Nova Nurseries – is Tricyrtis lasiocarpa. This species was found in the mountains of Taiwan and has jewel-like, dark purple and blue blooms in fall.