Hi Joyce, I've been trying to grow some for a couple of years and I can tell you that they are in a lasagna bed and grow pretty well if you keep them watered. I can't also tell you what THEY don't like, RABBITS!!! They have eaten everyone of mine both years. I had one small bloom on one of them last year so got to see what color it would be. Good luck!

Nancy

Hi Nancy,
Thanks for the post. I was lucky enough to have 2 named and one noid bloom this year. We don't have any rabbits here, too many cats. I just got 3 new ones from spring hill nursery. They are taking off really well considering they were in transit for 13 days to get here!! I guess it will just be a hit and miss to figure out what they really like. If you find anything out, let me know.
Joyceann

Plant Delights Nursery has a long list of toad lilies. I attached the web site. I searched the site under the latin name, trycirtis, took 3 tries since I always mispell it. LOL I assume that this is what you meant by toad lily, if not, please ignore the rest of this post.

I don't have much expertise growing toad lilies, but can tell you my experience. Last year I bought 3 different toad lilies from my local garden center, Empress, Amethystina, & Tojen. I planted 2 of them in a very heavily shaded spot under a low growing crab apple tree and one along my side yard pathway (east side of house) with light until about 1 p.m in summer and somewhat wetter & more open conditions.

All of them grew nicely and 2 of them bloomed that year in the fall. Empress (on the east side) bloomed the best and Tojen in the heavy shade bloomed a few blooms. Amethystina, which was also in heavy shade, did not bloom.

However, only 2 of them wintered over, the two in heavy dry shade. This year the two that wintered over put out quite a few flowering stems and bloomed all along each stem in very nice sprays. Both of them, however, turned out to be Tojen, a T. hirta variety, which I have read is somewhat hardier.

Caveat: Even the "dry shade" under my crab apple tree is heavy clay, which retains water, softened with heavy leaf litter each year.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plant Delights

Leslie, re 'Tojen'.
It's not only most hardiest, but also most agressive of T. hirta I grow. It spreads by rhizomes AND seeds. Maybe not so in z5, but here where I'm 3 small bareroot plants from Costco pack become a mini jungle in just 3 years. I had to move two established clumps of 'Ghost' fern to give them more room, but next year they'll be due to serious thinning.
'Sinonome' is a hirta hybrid, look very similar to Tojen, but definitely not as agressive, at least in my garden.
Try Tricyrtis hirta 'Miyazaki', also very cold hardy, but not rhizomatous. It's an ever incresing short (up to 2')clumper.
Another T. hirta I grow is a 'Lightning strike'. For whatever reason it's very weak and don't produce anything meaningfull except spring foliage and few not very special flowers.
The same applicable to T. macropoda 'Tricolor', though the few flowers it produces every year are very interesting and distinctly different from all others tr. I grow.
Another tricyrtis worth to mention is a T.latifolia (T.bakeri). Easy to grow medium height clumper with yellow w/brown blotches flower. First tricyrtis to bloom. Should be hardy for you.

Thanks for the heads-up on Tojen Ego45. I'll keep an eye on it. Also thanks for the other suggestions, I printed it out for when I do some buying. Thanks again, Leslie

Thanks for all the advice. Leslie--I always misspell it too. Last year, I put a heavy layer of mulch over my toad lilies, I will do the same and hope they make it. I just use regular miracle grow for a fertilizer, I hope that I'm doing the right thing. I gotta check out this website now and find some new goodies! Thanks for all the help.
Joyce

Question for you toad lily growers....
This is my first year with the plants. I have guilt edge, raspberry mousse, Sionome, tojen and something silk. They seem to have died to the ground in the frost that we have had her in GA. Is this normal? I have been watching them, and am concerned that tey might die and not come back. Just wondering. Thanks
AriesF5

Don't worry, they always toast at the first frost.
In GA you could only kill them by drought, nothing else.

Just a note on Tojen. For me, in zone 4 it has formed a small clump and never moved beyond that. It has been there about 6 years.