Toad Lilies

I am curious if anyone here has any experience with toad lilies. I find the flowers to be very unique, and am interested in getting some, but do not know if they will grow well in my area. Some websites show hardiness sup to zone 8, while others say 9. Some sites say more shade, some say any sun conditions. Being in Florida, full sun does not always mean full sun. LOL

Shauna

Sorry that is one I have not tried

I am not in Florida but in Alabama. I have always thought of Toad Lilies as a shade plant. That is where I planted mine, and they bloomed and grew very well this year. I liked them because they were so late blooming, but they do tend to sprawl a bit. I thought I had a picture of my Toad Lilies, but it seems I don't . The blooms were small, but I did like the odd look.

Here is an article from Dave's Garden
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1735/

Shauna,
Those toad lilies are fascinating. Hope you can try some and have good luck.

Geez its rainy and pretty cool here today. Can't complain cause N. Fl. is getting snow flurries.
I called my SIL just to kid him. Can you believe its snowing in Gainesville. I've seen it snow down here too but very rare and is gone when it touches the ground.

Spring is just around the corner and all the seed catalogues are coming in. I want some of the new this year Rose & Shine petunias. Burgundy and cream. They look just beautiful.

Too many flowers so little time. LOL

I grow them in a pot in the greenhouse - they go dormant in the fall, come back in the spring and bloom - I love their unique blooms.

I love their unusual blooms and have a small flower bed that surrounds a grapefruit tree and is in full shade with a littler filtered sun almost all day. That bed is full of bromeliads now and I was thinking of doing something different with it this yer..or at least adding some new pants to it.

I agree Bonnie...too many flowers...not enough time (or room). LOL

The toad lilies are interesting. I don't have much luck with plants above my zone, even in the shade. I hope they work out for you because they'd look good in the garden.

I can't believe it is still raining again today, sounded like it was supposed to taper off today...but it has been steady since I got up at 6AM. I'm sure the rain gauge has overflowed by now.

I sat and read seed catalogs yesterday while waiting for my mom to get her hair done, boy I found so many plants I'd love to have. Good think I have a small lot, or I would break the bank buying stuff.

You gottta love those seed catalogues. They drive me nuts. Reminds me of the promise of spring with new things sprouting and budding out. Geewiz I sound like a commercial.

Been inside for a few days doing mending and a few little sewing projects I started a long time ago. Think I'm getting cabin fever. Haven't seen the sun for days. All Charlie has done is keep the seat of his recliner warm. Supposed to go up to the 80's Sun. Won't it be wonderful to see sun again.

Sherri have you seen those Rose and Shine petunias anywhere locally? That's one new one I think I just have to have. My hanging pots are shot and need something new and I think they would be just the thing. Jung's has them at $5.95 per plant. I'd be happy with the seed but they are a new introduction this year so maybe no seeds available.

Shauna, hope you can raise some toad lilies.
Kay, wonderful you have a greenhouse. That's on my wish list.

Bonnie, it did no good - all the plants froze in it.

Bonnie Charlie sounds like Phil, his leather recliner is always nice and warm...LOL.

I only went to Lukas nursery once last week since Christmas and they did have lots of petunias, but only the solid color regular petunias you always see, nothing variegated like those. You probably need to order the seeds. I'll hit them again one day next week and if I see any I'll let you know. They would look beautiful in a hanging basket.

They said no seeds available yet as they are too new. OR maybe they just want to sell their plants. The sure are beautiful.
Appreciate your keeping an eye out for them. Is Lukas the one on Slavia Rd. I was there once years ago and it was just beautiful.

It was 83 here today. I pressure washed out all ponds filtration materials and then vacuumed them. Warm weather sure made the bigger fish move more. they were all hugging the bottom in a straight line.

Kay, I thought all GH were heated. That's the reason Charlie doesn't want me to have one. He figures our electric bill would be even higher and it's not low now. I thought maybe we could get a gas tank like we had up north and just use it for when it was really cold. Maybe I'm off base on that. I think there are bottled gas companies here.

Bonnie, it's heated if I turn the heater on, which I didn't do this time. What I lost in expensive plants is WAY more than the electricity would have cost me to heat it. I just was so busy covering up plants that I forgot to turn it on! Those I covered with quilts froze anyway, so it was for naught.

I did notice at Lowe's today that they had one selection of bare rooted Toad Lily, I think one plant was about 5-6 dollars. If you don't have tall plants to keep in a green house, you might want to try a cold frame inside the green house. The problem with an unheated greenhouse is that all the heat rises to the top, no plants up there. With a low roof (cold frame) the little heat that is in there is trapped down much closer to the plants. The smaller the area to be heated the cheaper the bill would be also, you could heat the entire cold frame on a very cold night with a single bulb. Of course if you have large, tall plants, you might be able to just drape a temporary plastic cover over them for extra protection. I sure wish I had a green house, my cold frame did protect many of my plants even with no heat, but many of them also froze.

I had very large night-blooming Cereus, which took up all the upper half of the greenhouse, but they are gone now, as are the vanilla Orchids and the lipstick plants.

Kay, I'm sorry you lost plants. Never mind we are nearing a new growing season. I get sad when I loose a plant I have been growing for years. Sherri has a lipstick vine outside but guess its a little warmer down here.

Seedford,
I see where you are coming from about a cold frame but I want a greenhouse I can raise vegies in and work in any old time. Preferably good sized. My husb. has a shop he doesn't use too much anymore but I know he won't part with it. It's 25 X48 and would be ideal. Just needs more windows and sky lights. I can dream can't I. I'd probably be out there more than in the house which would be fine with me. I talked to my friend who is a nursery man for 29 years and he said one gas tank and heater would heat it all very well. We would really only need heat once in a while like the cold snap we had a couple of weeks ago. So far doesn't look like I lost anything which some nights I wrapped and some I didn't bother.

BonnieGardens,
Yes I think a green house set up for year round growing, even to the extent of being able to grow vegetable all year long would be fantastic, but wishing and hoping is about all I can afford to do. The object of protecting plants inside a green house with a cold frame is for those who have a green house but can't afford to heat it during frigid cold spells. Flats set in a cold frame inside a greenhouse could be protected with a single light bulb, instead of burning a tank of propane trying to heat the rather large greenhouse. Just an I idea I read about, sounded good to me, I would use it if I had a greenhouse. It could always be dismantled and moved out of the way when not needed.
Hey, maybe one day we will both get a greenhouse. I think I will have to start off with one on a much smaller scale that what you are considering.

Walmart in Casselberry has bulbs for all kinds of lilies. so check your Wal-mart and you might find bulbs.

BonnieGardens,
25x48 ? Couldn't you be happy with one just HALF that size? Just a suggestion.

I would be happy with any size greenhouse but that's what his shop is and its cement block so would be a huge job to tear it down. Would need some windows put into the roof cause would need more light. I'm just dreaming. Doesn't cost anything to dream so I can afford that.
I hauled all the potted plants in there this winter in the back of our Gator and they stayed fine. I backed it out into light during the day and to water. Worked really well. However, it's too dark in there to raise plants right. I told him we could find some used windows and add them to which he replied you climb up on the tin roof and put them in and then we both just laughed.
I would have to leave all his woodworking tools in there cause I used some of them too. Comes in mighty handy. It's big enough that he can drive his tractor in there to work on it. When we moved here it was all open BBQ room they called it. We blocked it up and put windows in and it was 3 sections. Since that time I knocked 2 walls out and made it one nice big shop. We have been living here for 45 years. Takes time and we are too old now to make major changes like that any more. I call it his puttering place. Since he retired its a great place for him to putter.

Lukas Nursery update for this past week.

They did take all plants out of the green house. The only new plants they got in this past week were dragon and angle wing begonias, and a white begonia I almost bought 4.99ea. They had a few trailer loads of annuals like regular begonias, pansies, solid color petunias, mini petunias, and some Gerber Daises, and New Guinea Impatiens. They had a lot of geraniums in small pots and hanging baskets, angel wing begonias in hanging baskets too. They were $14.99 but a really nice size. Also lots of herbs, the same all the box stores have, some pepper plants, and large tomatoes, no cherry tomatoes.

They did tell me the new plants come in on Thursday and they get them priced and out by that late afternoon or Friday morning. So Fridays are a good day to come, or very early on Saturdays.

Sherri,
Keep your eyes out for that rose and shine petunia or ask them about it. That's a long ride for me but sure would love to have some. Thanks

I'll ask about them Bonnie and the toad lilies.

My grandmother came over and we started talking about spring/summer crops. I asked her what she wanted me to try to grow for her and her answer was cantaloupe. Stopped by HD to have a look and low n behold, they had cantaloupe seedlings. Watched some videos on You tube about growing them vertically, and I think I am going to try that this summer. Growing them on a chain link fence.

Can't beat home grown cantaloupes. If they get big and heavy on a fence you can tie them up in old pantyhose to hold the weight.

We grew them one year up in R.I. and had so many we had to give bushel baskets of them away every week. Haven't had a really good one since that time. Had some here but the bugs got them before they matured. Give it a try you will love them if they do well.


Bonnie

I was at HD one day and found a toad lily bulb that I went ahead and planted and will try out this summer. It has already started sprouting leaves. I had an idea where I want to plant it, where it will be in mostly shade all day and will monitor it throughout the summer to see how the heat affects it. I have a small pond that we are building a waterfall for and as soon as that is done, I will be landscaping it. I am hoping that the moisture from the waterfall, will keep that area slightly cooler and the lily will thrive there.

Can't wait to see it bloom...keep us posted how it does.

So far so good with the bulb...the seedling is about 2 inches tall and has 3 or 4 leaves on it.

Walked into Lowe's to get other supplies and low and behold 1 lonesome Toad lilly in a bag asking to come home with me so I will try and pot it up ASAP. Potted I can move around and see how much sun it really likes. Some plants that say full sun turn into toast down here.

Do they bloom first year they are planted?

Does it say full sun for your toad lily, I thought they all preferred shade? Mine is in the shade, I think it would die out in the sun.

I opened the bag and there was nothing in it but dirt. I sent it back with hub. as he was going for lumber. They didn't have any more so guess I don't get to try that.
It did say full sun on bag. Fl. sun is strong and makes lots of plants toast.

I thought my bag was empty as well Bonnie, but found 1 tiny little piece of a plant in that bag. Mine has started growing and has 2 sets of leaves on it. I am keeping mine in partial shade right now. Like Bonnie says, plants that say full sun often can't handle the Florida sun and need a little shade. I am hoping to add it to the landscaping of my pond once it has been completed.

I don't know why the package would suggest planting toad lilies in full sun, especially in Florida. Looking online I have yet to find any toad lily that likes full sun, even in zone 5. They are all listed as preferring part to full shade and the lower south you go the more shade they prefer it seems.
http://flowers.about.com/od/Perennial-Flowers/p/Toad-Lily-Tricyrtis-Flower.htm

I planted mine last year in the shade and it has lived though all the cold this winter and is now showing lots of growth. This picture was taken today.

This message was edited Mar 11, 2014 10:36 AM

I'm sitting here cracking up. There were 2 little brown strings in there that were brittle and dried out. Lilly --I'm thinking bulb. Oh well that's funny.

Yeah, I was expecting a bulb as well and not the piece of wood that it looked like. LOL

Seedfork..were those all seedlings from the same plant that you had last year? Did you have just one single plant...or several?

shauna1219
I guess you can't actually call them "seedlings", but that is all new growth from the one plant I had last year. It is a little deceiving, if your not familiar with the growth pattern of a Toad Lily.
I found this little article on the web. One of the better ones I have seen so far about Toad Lilies:
I was glad to read this:
"The Japanese name for Tricyrtis is Hototogisu, which I am told, translates to "cuckoo," probably in reference to the spotting on the leaves of several species."
You can see the spots on the leaves of mine in the picture, I was a afraid there was some thing wrong with my plant.

http://www.gardenweb.com/cyberplt/plants/toadlily.html

Yeah, I guess since they didn't technically come from seed, it isn't a seedling...but that was the first word that came to mind looking at those babies. Glad to see that is all from the same plant a year later. Gives me hopes that the one I started this year, will do the same thing next year and will spread.