Oriental Lily
Lilium orientale cvs. (Oriental hybrids)
📖 About this plant
The most fragrant and flamboyant of all lilies, producing massive, outward-facing, often recurved flowers up to 25 cm across in shades of white, pink, rose, crimson, and bicolor combinations, many with contrasting speckles and striking golden or green starburst throats. Their intoxicating perfume can fill an entire garden. A magnificent cut flower and border plant that blooms in late summer, extending the lily season.
🧑🌾 Care requirements
Full sun to partial shade (5-7 hrs)
Every 1-2 weeks
Moderate (40-60%)
15-25°C
Well-draining, organically rich, slightly acidic loamy soil (pH 5.5-6.5); tolerant of heavier soils if well-drained; plant bulbs 15-20 cm deep
Balanced slow-release fertilizer or bulb food at planting in spring; liquid fertilizer every 2-3 weeks during active growth; high-potassium feed as buds form
🌐 Common Names
📋 Plant facts
- 🌍 Origin
- Eastern Asia — Japan, Korea, eastern China; derived from species such as Lilium auratum, L. speciosum, and L. nobilissimum
- 📏 Max height
- 90-150 cm
- 📐 Spread
- 20-30 cm
- 🕰️ Bloom time
- Summer
- 🎨 Bloom color
- White, Pink, Red
- 🍃 Foliage color
- Green
- ⏳ Lifespan
- Perennial
- 📈 Growth rate
- Moderate
- ☠️ Toxicity
- EXTREMELY TOXIC TO CATS — all parts (even pollen, water from cut stems) can cause fatal kidney failure within hours; ingestion of even small amounts requires immediate veterinary treatment; less severely toxic to dogs; pollen can cause vomiting in cats that groom it off their fur
- 🌱 Propagation
- Bulb scale propagation in autumn; bulblet separation from stem bases; division of large bulbs; seed sowing (slow, takes several years to bloom)
🛡️ Health & Safety
EXTREMELY TOXIC TO CATS — all parts (even pollen, water from cut stems) can cause fatal kidney failure within hours; ingestion of even small amounts requires immediate veterinary treatment; less severely toxic to dogs; pollen can cause vomiting in cats that groom it off their fur
Common issues
- Lily beetle on foliage
- Botrytis petal blight
- Basal bulb rot
- Virus streaking
💡 Care tips
- Large fragrant outward-facing flowers in pink white and red
- Plant bulbs in fall at a depth three times their height
- Remove pollen stamens from cut flowers to prevent staining
- More fragrant than Asiatic lilies making them ideal for cutting gardens
