Plant Encyclopedia

Other Names:  Kaffir Lily

Description:

A beautiful bulb plant for the frost free garden or potted to move indoors in winter; glorious clusters of orange-yellow blooms rising above deep green foliage gives tremendous contrast; water more in spring and less in summer or winter

Ornamental Features

Bush Lily features showy clusters of lightly-scented orange trumpet-shaped flowers with yellow throats at the ends of the stems from mid spring to mid summer. Its attractive large sword-like leaves remain dark green in color throughout the year.

Landscape Attributes

Bush Lily is an herbaceous evergreen perennial with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Bush Lily is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Bush Lily will grow to be about 18 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 10 inches. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. As an evegreen perennial, this plant will typically keep its form and foliage year-round.

This plant does best in partial shade to shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil type, but has a definite preference for acidic soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid, and parts of it are known to be toxic to humans and animals, so care should be exercised in planting it around children and pets.

Bush Lily is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a mass of flowers and foliage against which the larger thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden. Be aware that in our climate, this plant may be too tender to survive the winter if left outdoors in a container. Contact our experts for more information on how to protect it over the winter months.