Toad Lily

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NO FUSS PERENNIAL

I don’t fuss with perennials (anymore). To live in my garden they must look after themselves…

                                                                                              

    The Toad lily (Tricyrtis hirta) does , and blooms in the autumn…..

                                                                                       

fabulous with the club moss (Selaginella kraussiana ‘Aurea’) below.

                                                                                                 

According to Allan Armitage (THE perennial expert) they got the common name ‘toad lily’ from the fact that members of the Tasaday Tribe in the Philippines, their native habitat, rub their hands with the juice of the flowers and foliage before going to capture frogs.

Thought you might like to know.

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NEW GARDEN SEASON!

We finally got some rain…

                                                                     

a good, long, soaking, rain and temperatures have dropped to somewhere near ‘normal’ for this time of year. Hard to believe we are at the end of September begining of October!

                                                                        

One of the self sowing, perennials in my garden is the Toad Lily (Tricyrtis hirta). This plant has graceful arching foliage of matt, fuzzy, texture and flowers that look like orchids (below) which open along each axil of the leaf.

                                                                  

 Its bloom time coincides with the first camellias, marking a NEW GARDENING SEASON.

In my garden, the first Camellias to bloom are the Tea Plant, (Camellia sinensis)

                                                                    

Camellia sasanqua ‘Sparkling Burgundy’ 

                                                                    

 and Camellia sasanqua ‘Hana Jima’. (below)

                                                                      

 Typically the sasanqua camellias  bloom through the autumn followed by the japonica type that will continue all winter. More on the differences in the next post, when I welcome you to ‘The Camellia Walk.’… another part of  the garden.

© All photos & text 2010