Tricyrtis hirta Imperial Banner - Toad Lily

The Tricyrtis hirta 'Imperial Banner', sometimes called Orchid Lily or Toad Lily, is a beautiful perennial that truly brightens up shady woodland areas with its unique and charming flowering, set against variegated green and cream-white foliage reminiscent of certain hostas. Its flowers, resembling white lilies heavily speckled with deep purple-violet, appear late in autumn, carried in terminal clusters by robust stems sheathed in mottled, lanceolate leaves with a slightly twisted form. This plant, with a very exotic appearance, anchors itself to a sturdy and hardy stump, easily colonizing partially shaded areas with humus-bearing and moist soil.

Tricyrtis hirta is a rhizomatous perennial plant of the lily family, mainly native to humid forests in Japan. This highly ornamental species is widely cultivated today in temperate climates, particularly in enlightened French amateur gardens. The 'Imperial Banner' variety is a mutation of a magnificent plant called Tricyrtis 'Empress'. When planted in a rather cool, shaded area with some sunlight, this Toad Lily quickly grows to a height of 70 cm (28in) and spreads thanks to its slightly running stump. The plantforms deciduous clumps with upright, brown, and hairy stems, quite slender, bearing sheathing leaves that are 10 cm (4in) long, cordate at the base, cream-white with more or less dark green margins. Each leaf is unique, slightly twisted, with its own patterns and crossed by prominent parallel veins. Flowering takes place in September-October, in the form of terminal cymes with a flexible habit, bearing magnificent 5 cm (2in) wide, star-shaped, fully open flowers. They consist of 6 white tepals, intensely spotted with very bright purple-violet, and a central column called a spur bearing stigma with the same hues and patterns. A throat tinged with golden yellow occupies the center of the corolla.

The Trycirtis has sparked the imagination of gardeners. Nicknamed Orchid Lily for the shape of its flower, Toad Lily for a reason that eludes us (perhaps because it thrives in coolness and humidity, its flower is speckled like the skin of an amphibian, or simply out of a spirit of contradiction?).

Still too little used in our gardens, it will happily share the territory with hostas and ferns, offering its flowers during a season when most other woodland flowers have faded. While early frosts may harm its flowering, it is a very hardy plant that will bring an exotic and unexpected touch to a shaded rockery. Perfectly at ease among the round, mossy stones of a Japanese garden, it also thrives in a pot on a shaded terrace, where its lanceolate foliage is decorative from spring to autumn.

Be careful, young shoots are often targeted by small gray slugs!