Bulb · Liliaceae
Asiatic Lily
Lilium
Sink the bulbs once and the Asiatic lily returns each year with the first wide flowers of summer, faces turned to the sky.
Full sun
Every 5–10 days
USDA 4–8
2–5 ft · 0.6–1.5 m
Overview
The Asiatic lily is the most forgiving of the true lilies and, most years, the first to flower in summer. Each one grows from a bulb that thickens a little with every season, lifting flowers 4 to 6 inches across that open facing upward or outward in nearly every color there is, blue aside. Run a finger near the petals and you'll catch little or no scent, a relief to anyone weighed down by the heavy perfume other lilies pour out.
Once the bulbs are in the ground they ask for next to nothing. Full sun, soil that lets water slip through, and a cool root zone cover the whole list, and the bulbs are hardy enough to sit out winters as cold as -20°F (-29°C). Drop them into a sunny bed and they split and spread on their own, gathering into fuller, narrow clumps you can lift and divide every few years.
One fact has to land hard: these are true lilies, and they kill cats. Every part, right down to the pollen on the petals and the water in a vase, can drive a cat into fatal kidney failure. If a cat lives with you, grow this only somewhere the cat can never climb to, or leave it out of the garden completely.
Care
The short version: full sun and soil that drains fast are what the Asiatic lily wants above all else. Hold the ground evenly moist without letting it turn to muck, lay down mulch to keep the roots cool, and split crowded clumps every few years so the flowers keep coming.
Light
Asiatic lilies bloom hardest in full sun, six hours a day or more. A touch of afternoon shade is fine where summers run hot and even helps the flowers hold their color longer, but heavy shade draws the stems out thin and weak and leaves them stingy with flowers.
Water
Hold the soil evenly moist all through the growing season, never letting it bake dry while the plants are pushing growth. Water every 5 to 10 days, more often in heat, and ease off the instant the ground turns sodden, since soaked roots rot the bulbs. A blanket of mulch keeps moisture in and the roots cool.
Soil
Drainage decides everything. Plant in well-drained loam, silt, or sand turned with compost, with a slightly acidic to neutral pH of 6.0 to 7.0. Dense, waterlogged ground is the surest way to lose the bulbs.
Temperature
These are tough, cold-hardy bulbs that ride out a span from -20°F to 90°F (-29°C to 32°C). They need a winter chill to flower well, so they do best in cold-winter gardens where many other bulbs falter.
Humidity
Plain outdoor air suits them, so there's no figure to chase. Moving air matters more than moisture, since crowded, stagnant spots are what coax botrytis blight onto the leaves.
Feeding
Turn a balanced or low-nitrogen bulb fertilizer into the soil as the shoots break the surface in spring, then feed once more as the buds swell. Keep nitrogen light, since too much drives soft, leafy growth and steals from the flowers.
Pruning
Pinch off spent blooms so the plant pours its energy back into the bulb rather than seed. Let the rest of the foliage stand until it yellows and dies down on its own in fall, then cut the stems flush to the ground.
Repotting
Lilies prefer to be left undisturbed, but a clump that's held one spot for 3 to 4 years begins to choke itself and the flowers shrink. Lift and split it in fall once you spot smaller blooms or a tight cluster of little bulblets crowding the parent.
Size & spacing
The stems climb 2 to 5 feet (60 to 150 cm) in a fairly narrow clump. Set the bulbs 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) deep and roughly 12 inches (30 cm) apart so air slips through and the roots stay cool.
When to plant
The Asiatic lily keeps a plain seasonal rhythm. Sink the bulbs in spring or fall, deep and a hand's width apart, and they break ground in spring to throw open the first lilies of the year in early to midsummer.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Plant: Plant bulbs in spring or fall, 6 to 8 inches deep and about 12 inches apart
- Harvest: Early to mid summer; Asiatic hybrids are usually the first lilies to bloom
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 4–8
Temperature: down to -34°C
Troubleshooting
Nearly every lily problem leads back to a single cause: ground that holds too much water. Keep an eye on the bulbs and the lower leaves for the early signs below, then move before rot or blight sets in.
Bulbs gone soft and squashy while the shoots stall or never break the soil
What you are holding is bulb rot, and the cause is the wet soil around it, not a flaw in the bulb. Waterlogged ground starves the bulb of air and opens the door to fungi. A bulb that gives under your thumb or smells sour is finished, so pull it and discard it, then dig compost and grit through the bed before you replant where water drains off faster.
Fix:
- Lift and discard rotted bulbs
- Improve drainage by amending soil with compost and coarse material
- Replant healthy bulbs in a raised or well-drained site
Tan and gray fuzz spreading over blotched leaves and buds
Damp, chilly stretches set off botrytis blight, a fungus that turns water-soaked specks into patches of tan or gray fuzz across leaves and flowers. Snip the spotted growth and seal it in the trash rather than the compost pile. Open up the spacing so air moves through, aim the hose at the base instead of the foliage, and rake out dead leaves in fall so the spores find nowhere to overwinter.
Fix:
- Remove and destroy infected foliage
- Improve air circulation and avoid overhead watering
- Apply an appropriate fungicide if severe
Twisted new shoots and a tacky film on the leaves
Tight knots of tiny soft-bodied insects on the fresh shoots and the undersides of leaves mean lily aphids, and the sticky honeydew glazing the foliage is their leavings. Blast them off with a sharp stream of water, then hit the stragglers with insecticidal soap. Keep checking, because aphids ferry viruses from one lily to the next.
Fix:
- Spray plants with a strong stream of water to dislodge aphids
- Apply insecticidal soap to affected growth
- Encourage natural predators such as lady beetles
Toxicity
Here the Asiatic lily calls for genuine care. Being a true lily, the entire plant is gravely poisonous to cats, and a single lick of pollen or sip of vase water can bring on fatal kidney failure. Dogs come away lightly with not much beyond a queasy stomach, and the plant holds no serious danger for people, but no cat should ever come within reach of it.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds · People
Cats Severe
This is the danger that towers over all the rest. A couple of bites from a leaf or petal, a single lick of pollen off the coat, or a sip of vase water is enough to shut a cat's kidneys down. The first hours bring vomiting, a turned-up nose at food, and a limp, exhausted cat, and from there it tips into fatal kidney failure unless a vet steps in quickly. Rush to an emergency clinic without delay.
Dogs Mild
Dogs come through this with far less trouble. A dog that gnaws on the plant might drool or vomit, but true lilies don't appear to attack a dog's kidneys the way they destroy a cat's.
Horses Caution
Horses escape the kidney failure that kills cats, yet the plant still has no place in their feed. Keep bulbs, foliage, and garden clippings clear of the paddock to head off mild digestive upset.
Rabbits Caution
Test animals took high doses without obvious harm, but that leaves no real cushion of safety. Don't allow a rabbit to nibble the leaves or bulbs.
Livestock Caution
Cattle, sheep, and goats have no record of serious illness from true lilies, though the plant gives them nothing of value. Fence off the bed and never dump trimmings within reach of grazing animals.
Birds Caution
No solid accounts of bird poisoning exist, so the risk stays murky. Let that doubt steer you toward keeping cages and aviaries far from cut stems and loose pollen.
People Caution
Nothing on this plant is meant for the plate, and chewing a leaf, bulb, or flower can leave the mouth and stomach sore. Keep small children from putting it in their mouths, even though it holds none of the lethal threat a cat faces.
Keep this plant and any cut stems, fallen pollen, and vase water completely out of reach of cats. Even brushing against pollen and grooming it off the fur can poison a cat.
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
Poison Control: (800) 222-1222
Canada
Poison Centres: 1-844-764-7669
Varieties
Asiatic lilies span a broad sweep of colors, and a pair of true lilies earn knowing by name.
Asiatic hybrids (general)
First of all the lilies to open, these carry mostly scentless flowers 4 to 6 inches across, each one tilted to face up or outward, in reds, pinks, oranges, yellows, lavender, and white.
Tiger lily (Lilium lancifolium)
A cousin among the true lilies, its orange flowers are dark-spotted with petals that curl sharply backward, and small dark bulbils sit nested in the leaf joints up the stem.
How to propagate
The Asiatic lily multiplies almost on its own, which is why one planting fills out into a clump so fast. Splitting the bulbs is the dependable path, while seed is slow going and best left to breeders.
DivisionEasy
Fall, every 3 to 4 years when clumps become crowded · One growing season; divisions often bloom the following summer
Every 3 to 4 years, once the clump packs in on itself, lift it in fall and ease the parent bulbs apart from their bulblets by hand. Set each piece back at its proper depth right away, and the divisions take hold within a single season, most of them flowering again the very next summer.
Offsets & pupsEasy
Fall, when lifting and dividing bulbs · One to two growing seasons to reach blooming size
With the clump out of the ground in fall, twist off the small bulblets ringing each parent bulb and pot them up to grow on. They want one to two seasons to bulk up before they bloom, so count them as next year's lilies rather than this year's.
SeedDemanding
Sow ripe seed in fall or stratify and sow in spring · Several years to reach blooming size; named hybrids do not come true from seed
Sow ripe seed in fall, or chill it through winter and sow in spring, but settle in for a wait of several years before the seedlings flower. Named hybrids refuse to come true from seed as well, so this route is a breeder's tool, not a way to duplicate a lily you already love.
Myths
A cat is only at risk if it actually eats the leaves or flowers.
The threat stretches far beyond the leaves and petals. A cat that grooms pollen from its fur or drinks the water from a lily vase can absorb enough toxin to set off kidney failure. For a cat, every piece of a true lily and even the water it stood in counts as poison.
Asiatic lilies are just as deadly to dogs as they are to cats.
Cats and dogs meet this plant on entirely different terms. A dog that samples a lily rarely gets worse than a sour stomach, showing none of the kidney damage the same plant inflicts on cats. The deadly lily toxin strikes cats, not dogs.