Forget Mums: These Fall-Blooming, Orchid-Like Flowers Have The Cutest Name

As the days grow shorter and temperatures become milder, gardeners turn their thoughts to planting brightly colored fall bloomers to keep their beds looking fresh and lively. One of the first plants that flower lovers reach for is the chrysanthemum because it's easy to grow and comes in such a huge variety of colors. But if mums feel a little too predictable, there's another fall perennial that should be on your radar. Toad lily (Tricyrtis 'Sinonome') delivers orchid-like flowers and, yes, its name is as adorable as the blossoms.

Toad lilies will bloom right through autumn, allowing you to create a beautiful fall landscape, especially in the shaded areas of your yard. Their unusual flowers are the real showstopper. The petals are white, but they have numerous small maroon or purple blotches all over, giving them the speckled look associated with many orchids. These adorable speckles are likely why these plants have the common name toad lily. This particular hybrid is the result of a blending of Tricyrtis hirta and T. formosana. It will grow in an upright clump, reaching a maximum height of 36 inches. The green leaves are ovate and generally around 4 inches long. Thanks to their long stems, the blooms make excellent cut flowers to brighten up your fall interiors, and they also have an extended vase life.

This toad lily hybrid will grow well in USDA hardiness zones 5 through 8. It prefers moist but well-drained soil and will thrive in your shade garden, as it's happy to grow and flower in either part or full shade. That makes it especially useful for those dim corners where sun-loving fall flowers struggle. It's an ideal plant for woodland areas where soils are rich in organic matter. It will spread through underground rhizomes, but it does so rather slowly, so it is non-invasive and won't take over your garden. Once planted, it's a good idea to add a light layer of mulch around the base of the plant to prevent cold damage to the roots over winter.

The toad lily is an outstanding fall-blooming perennial and will have the greatest impact if you plant a group of them in a spot where it's not difficult to get up close to the flowers, so they can be admired. That's important because the blooms themselves are tiny, measuring only about 1 inch across. As a bonus, you'll find that they contain enough nectar to keep hummingbirds coming to your garden, as well as provide sustenance for bees and butterflies.