Bulb · Liliaceae
Asiatic Lily
Lilium
Tuck the bulbs in once and Asiatic lilies keep handing you the first big blooms of summer, year after year.
Full sun
Every 5–10 days
USDA 4–8
2–5 ft · 0.6–1.5 m
Overview
Of all the true lilies, Asiatic lilies are the easiest to grow, and they're usually the first to bloom when summer rolls around. Each one grows from a bulb that comes back a little stronger every year, carrying upward or outward facing flowers 4 to 6 inches across in just about every color except true blue. Most have barely any scent, which is good news if the heavy perfume of other lilies isn't your thing.
Once they're settled in the ground, they don't ask for much. Full sun, soil that drains well, and a cool root zone pretty much covers it, and the bulbs are hardy enough to shrug off winters all the way down to -20°F (-29°C). Drop them into a sunny bed and they spread on their own, building fuller clumps that you can dig up and split every few years.
One point needs saying flat out: these are true lilies, and they're deadly to cats. Every part of the plant, right down to the pollen and the water sitting in a vase, can bring on fatal kidney failure in a cat. So if there's a cat in the house, grow this only somewhere the cat could never get to it, or just leave it out of the garden altogether.
Care
The short version: full sun and quick drainage are the two things Asiatic lilies really care about. Keep the soil evenly moist but never soggy, mulch to keep the roots cool, and split up crowded clumps every few years so the flowers keep on coming.
Light
Asiatic lilies put on their best show in full sun, so aim for six hours a day or more. Where summers run hot, a little afternoon shade is fine and actually helps the blooms hold on longer, but stick them in deep shade and you'll get leggy stems with few flowers.
Water
Keep the soil evenly moist all through the growing season, and don't let it dry right out while the plants are actively growing. Water every 5 to 10 days, more often in the heat, but ease off the second the ground feels soggy, because wet feet rot the bulbs. A layer of mulch helps hold the moisture and keeps the roots cool.
Soil
Drainage really is the whole game here. Plant in well-drained loam, silt, or sand mixed with compost, and shoot for a slightly acidic to neutral pH of 6.0 to 7.0. Heavy, waterlogged ground is the quickest way to lose your bulbs.
Temperature
These are tough, cold-hardy bulbs that take a range from -20°F to 90°F (-29°C to 32°C) in stride. They actually need a winter chill to bloom well, so they do great in cold-winter gardens where plenty of other bulbs would struggle.
Humidity
Plain old outdoor humidity is all they need, so there's no target number to chase. Airflow matters more than moisture in the air, since still, crowded conditions are exactly what coax botrytis blight onto the leaves.
Feeding
Work a balanced or low-nitrogen bulb fertilizer into the soil as the shoots come up in spring, then feed once more as the buds start forming. Keep the nitrogen light, since too much pushes soft leafy growth instead of flowers.
Pruning
Pinch off the spent blooms so the plant pours its energy back into the bulb rather than into setting seed. Leave the rest of the foliage standing until it yellows and dies back on its own in fall, and then cut the stems right down to the ground.
Repotting
Lilies are happiest when you leave them be, but a clump that's sat in one spot for 3 to 4 years starts crowding itself and the flowers shrink. Dig it up and divide it in fall once you notice smaller blooms or a tangle of little bulblets around the parent.
Size & spacing
The stems climb 2 to 5 feet (60 to 150 cm) tall in a fairly slim clump. Set the bulbs 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) deep and roughly 12 inches (30 cm) apart, which lets air move through and keeps the roots cool.
When to plant
Asiatic lilies follow an easy seasonal rhythm. Get the bulbs in the ground in spring or fall, planted deep and roughly a hand's width apart, and they'll push up in spring to 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 comes back to the same culprit: soil that's holding too much water. Keep an eye on the bulbs and the lower leaves for the early warning signs below, and step in before rot or blight gets a foothold.
Mushy bulbs and growth that sputters or simply doesn't show
What you're looking at is bulb rot, and the trouble usually sits in the soil rather than the bulb. When water won't drain away, it smothers the bulb and opens the door to fungi. If a bulb feels soft or smells off, dig it up and toss it, then mix compost and grit through the bed and replant somewhere the water moves through 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
Fuzzy gray mold and brown blotches showing up on leaves and buds
When the weather turns cool and damp, you can get botrytis blight, a fungus that fills those water-soaked spots with tan or gray fuzz. Snip off the affected leaves and flowers and bin them, since composting just spreads the problem. Give each plant some elbow room, water down at the base rather than over the top, and rake away dead foliage in fall so the spores have nowhere to hide for winter.
Fix:
- Remove and destroy infected foliage
- Improve air circulation and avoid overhead watering
- Apply an appropriate fungicide if severe
Twisted new shoots with a sticky film on the leaves
If you spot clumps of tiny soft-bodied bugs on the fresh shoots and the undersides of leaves, those are lily aphids, and the sticky honeydew on the foliage is their calling card. Blast them off with a strong spray of water, then hit whatever's left with insecticidal soap. Keep checking, because aphids can carry viruses from one lily to another.
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
This is where Asiatic lilies call for real care. Because it's a true lily, the whole plant is severely poisonous to cats, and even a lick of pollen or a sip of vase water can set off fatal kidney failure. Dogs get away with little more than a sour stomach, and the plant isn't a serious danger to people, but no cat should ever be able to reach it.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds · People
Cats Severe
Here's the one to take seriously. Just a couple of bites of leaf or flower, a lick of pollen off the fur, or a sip of vase water is enough to shut down a cat's kidneys. You'll see vomiting first, then the cat goes off its food and turns limp and listless within hours, and from there it slides toward fatal kidney failure unless a vet steps in quickly. Head to an emergency clinic right away.
Dogs Mild
Dogs come through this in much better shape. A dog that chews on the plant might drool a bit or throw up, but true lilies don't seem to damage a dog's kidneys the way they devastate a cat's.
Horses Caution
Horses don't get the kidney failure that hits cats, but the plant still isn't anything they should be eating. Keep the bulbs, leaves, and garden clippings out of the paddock so you don't risk a bit of digestive upset.
Rabbits Caution
Test feedings with high doses didn't cause obvious harm, but that's hardly a safety guarantee. It's best not to let a rabbit nibble the leaves or bulbs at all.
Livestock Caution
Cattle, sheep, and goats aren't known to get seriously sick from true lilies, but there's nothing in the plant for them either. Fence off the bed and never dump trimmings where grazing animals can get to them.
Birds Caution
There aren't any solid reports of birds being poisoned, so honestly the picture's just unclear. Play it safe with that uncertainty and keep cages and aviaries well clear of cut stems and pollen.
People Caution
None of this plant is meant to be eaten, and chewing the leaves, bulbs, or flowers can leave your mouth and stomach irritated. Keep little ones from nibbling on it, though it doesn't carry anything close to the deadly risk it poses to a cat.
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 turn up in a huge range of colors, and there are a couple of true lilies worth getting to know by name.
Asiatic hybrids (general)
You'll spot these first thing in the season, opening mostly scentless flowers 4 to 6 inches across that look up or out, in reds, pinks, oranges, yellows, lavender, and white.
Tiger lily (Lilium lancifolium)
This is a related true lily with orange, dark-spotted flowers whose petals curl back, and it forms little dark bulbils tucked into the leaf joints along the stem.
How to propagate
Asiatic lilies multiply with almost no nudging from you, which is exactly why a single planting fills out into a clump so fast. Splitting the bulbs is the dependable way to go, while seed is slow going and best left to the 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 a clump gets crowded, dig it up in fall and gently tease the parent bulbs and their bulblets apart. Pop each one back in at its proper depth right away, and the divisions settle in over a single season, with 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
While you've got a clump out of the ground in fall, twist off the little bulblets crowded around each parent bulb and pot them up to grow on. They need one to two seasons to bulk up before they'll bloom, so think of them as next year's lilies instead of 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
You can sow ripe seed in fall, or chill it through winter and sow in spring, but be ready to wait several years before the seedlings flower. Named hybrids won't come true this way either, so seed really makes more sense as a breeder's tool than as a way to copy a lily you already love.
Myths
A cat is only at risk if it actually eats the leaves or flowers.
The risk goes well beyond the leaves and petals, unfortunately. A cat that grooms pollen off its coat or laps water from a vase that held lilies can swallow enough toxin to trigger kidney failure. With true lilies, every part of the plant counts as poison to a cat, and so does the water.
Asiatic lilies are just as deadly to dogs as they are to cats.
Cats and dogs really don't respond to this plant the same way. A dog that nibbles a lily usually ends up with nothing worse than a queasy stomach, and you won't see the kidney damage the same plant causes in cats. The lethal lily toxin is a cat problem, not a dog one.