Tricyrtis 'Sinonome'

One of the most beautiful flowering perennials for the shade garden, Tricyrtis 'Sinonome', a toad lily, has been a popular cut flower in Japan for many years, and is now eager to grace your border and vases with its glorious blooms. Tricyrtis 'Sinonome' is easy to grow, very free-flowering, and long-lived, slowly spreading to fill in bare spots and create a large, lush planting that flowers in autumn.

This moisture loving toad lily sets slightly ribbed bright green leaves, up to 4 inches long, in symmetrical ladders on long, strong stems. These are topped with long, pointed violet buds in late summer, each opening to a wide-petaled 1-inch-wide flower of cream, burgundy, and white. Freckled, streaked, and washed with color, each flower is uniquely beautiful, and there are plenty of every stem of Tricyrtis 'Sinonome'.

Expect Tricyrtis 'Sinonome' to reach 30 to 36 inches high in bloom, and to start out at about a foot wide, spreading to 2 feet within a season or two. Left alone by most pests and diseases (snails can be an issue; use the same remedies you do for your hostas), it only asks is consistently moist soil and partial to full shade.

Long-lived, slowly spreading, and almost unbelievably elegant, Tricyrtis 'Sinonome' is a perennial you must try in your choicest shady garden spots. Space these plants about 2 feet apart, or slightly closer together if you want more dense coverage immediately. Plan for the long term with Tricyrtis 'Sinonome'—it will live a long and beautiful life where happy in the garden, and your indoor arrangements as well as your shade border or woodland garden will be all the better for it. Zones 5-8.