Common Name: toad lily
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Liliaceae
Zone: 5 to 8
Height: 1.00 to 2.00 feet
Spread: 1.00 to 2.00 feet
Bloom Time: August to October
Bloom Description: Purple and white with reddish purple spotting
Sun: Part shade to full shade
Water: Medium to wet
Maintenance: Low
Flower: Showy
Tolerate: Heavy Shade
Culture
Easily grown in average, medium to wet, well-drained soils in part shade to full shade. Prefers moist, organically rich, humusy, slightly acidic soils in part shade. Soil must not be allowed to dry out. This is a stoloniferous plant that will colonize in the garden over time in a non-invasive manner. A light winter mulch will help protect roots.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Tricyrtis, commonly called toad lilies, is a genus of about 16 species of herbaceous perennials from the Eastern Himalayas to the Philippines. They are valued garden plants in large part because of their unique flowers, ability to flower in shade and late summer to fall bloom time.
Genus name comes from the Greek words tri- meaning three and kyrtos meaning humped as the bases of the three outer petals are swollen and sacklike.
Common name presumably relates to the spotting on the flowers.
‘Taipei Silk’ is the result of a cross-pollination performed in a controlled environment in Hubbardston, Massachusetts in 1992 of an unnamed selection of T. formosana (seed parent) and an unnamed selection of T. lasiocarpa (pollen parent). 'Taipei Silk' is noted for its upright-spreading growth habit, its large inflorescences containing purple and white flowers and its glossy dark green leaves. It typically grows in a clump on stiff straight stems rising to 20-25” tall. Flowers (to 1 1/2" wide) appear in late summer in branched terminal and axillary sprays (cymes). Each flower features six showy tepals (similar appearing sepals and petals) that are purple, pale purple and white with reddish-purple spotting. Elliptic, stem-clasping, dark green leaves (to 3" long) generally remain attractive throughout the growing season. U.S. Plant Patent PP18,727 was issued on April 15, 2008.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems. Slugs and snails are occasional visitors.
Uses
Borders, woodland gardens, shade gardens or naturalized areas. Best sited in areas where they can be observed at close range because the beauty and detail of the small flowers tends to get lost if plants can not be examined and appreciated close up. Good cut flower.