Species Native to Missouri
Common Name: Turkscap lily
Type: Bulb
Family: Liliaceae
Native Range: Eastern United States
Zone: 5 to 8
Height: 4.00 to 7.00 feet
Spread: 0.50 to 0.75 feet
Bloom Time: July
Bloom Description: Orange, spotted maroon
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium to wet
Maintenance: Medium
Suggested Use: Naturalize, Rain Garden
Flower: Showy
Attracts: Hummingbirds
Tolerate: Wet Soil
Culture
Easily grown in average, medium to wet, well-drained soils in full sun to part/filtered sun. Best in consistently moist, humusy soils. Soils should not be allowed to dry out. Mulch helps keep root zone cool. Plant bulbs 5-6" deep in fall. Bulbs are stoloniferous, and plants often spread to form impressive colonies in the wild. May be slow to spread in cultivation, particularly when sited in less than optimum growing conditions.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Lilium superbum, commonly called Turk's cap lily, is native to eastern North America where it occurs in wet meadows and moist woods from New Hampshire south to Georgia and Alabama. This is the tallest of the native American lilies, typically growing 4-6' (less frequently to 8') tall. Elliptic to lance-shaped leaves (to 6" long) are arranged in whorls around the stems. Downward-facing, nodding, Turk's cap-type, orange flowers (2.5 to 4" wide) with greenish throats are densely-spotted with maroon. Sharply-reflexed sepals and petals curve backward to touch at the stem thus forming a "Turk's cap". Flowers appear in a loose inflorescence atop upright stems in early to mid summer. Michigan lily (Lilium michiganense) is a similar-in-appearance Turk's cap-type lily that is native to Missouri.
Genus name comes from the Latin name meaning lily.
Specific epithet means superb.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems.
Uses
Borders, cottage gardens, native plant gardens or meadows. Good plant for moist low spots or pond peripheries. Best grouped or massed.