Tricyrtis hirta

Description

Tricyrtis hirta (commonly known as the Japanese Toad Lily) is a truly unusual plant with very exotic looking, striking flowers but that is fully hardy and quite happy performing in shady borders and woodland gardens. It emerges in spring from robust underground rhizomes, putting out stems decked in interestingly ribbed, subtly mottled foliage with a slightly glossy sheen. These climb up through the early season until later in summer when the buds emerge in dense clusters. When they do flower they really stand out – the flowers look very orchid-like in appearance, with splayed white petals dotted with burgundy-purple speckles, reddish-purple stigmas and yellow and orange centres. A real must, in our view, for adding interest to a shadier spot in the garden or just for those interested in growing something more exotic and unusual with the added benefit of coping with the excesses of the British climate!

These established, garden-ready plants have been grown in peat-free compost at our nursery in Cornwall and are provided in two-litre containers. They will grow to an ultimate height of about 75cm (30 inches) and will slowly spread around in the right conditions via its underground rhizomes.