Flower Friday – Japanese Toad Lily

~ laura lecce
Japanese Toad Lily - Photograph by Laura Lecce
Japanese Toad Lily – Photograph by Laura Lecce

This is a photo of a Japanese Toad Lily, which in my opinion, is quite an unattractive name given to a beautiful flower. This was the first time I have seen or heard of this flower. It is native to Japan, and flowers late in summer to early fall. One particular piece of information that stuck in my mind above all others, is that this flower is deer resistant. To an Australian who has never, and will never experience a deer visiting my garden, this intrigued me. I further found out that deer resistant means that it is not one of their favorite flowers to munch on. If I had the slightest possibility that a deer might visit me, I would be someone who would plant flowers purely to entice deer into my garden. Though I can also understand the frustration of people who want a flower filled garden, and are constantly losing flowers to hungry deer. If you are experiencing that frustration, then supposedly this flower is a good choice for your garden, as it may last longer than other flowers which deer think are yummy to eat.

Have a great weekend everyone, and for other flowers please click here.

16 thoughts on “Flower Friday – Japanese Toad Lily”

  1. I am always looking for “deer resistant” plants though sometimes that means that it isn’t their first choice! Beautiful photo of a beautiful flower, never seen it or heard of it. I wouldn’t think that I could even grow it because I bet it is a tropical flower, usually the stunners are. Now I am curious, you don’t have deer in Australia? I have a “deer garden” lol I know that sounds funny. I don’t have a dog anymore and I don’t want to put everything behind fencing so I work around my problem. I also keep water out for the birds and the deer come through and drink as well. Truthfully I love seeing them and let them be. A lot of people complain about them but they are welcomed here. 🙂 Anyway, love your photo and your posts, I always feel inspired and I love something each time. Have a wonderful and creative weekend! Oh, have you painted lately? I remember once upon a time seeing some of your paintings. Cheers!

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    1. Hi Margaret,
      Actually, because they are a lily (herbaceous perennial, which die down each year into a bulb, and pop back up after the snow), they are suited to cold climates (USDA zones 4-8). We don’t have native deer in Australia, although I have read that they were introduced at some point for recreational hunting purposes. In all my traveling throughout Australia, I have never seen a deer outside of a zoo.
      It’s so lovely to hear that my photos inspire you. Truthfully I never expected my blog to be anything more than a personal photo album, but people like you have turned it into so much more than that, thank you dearly. Your paintings are always inspiring to me too, I just love seeing them! To capture nature in so many lovely greens, blues and browns that you do, they really appeal to me. I wish I got more time to paint, but work (as a scientist) has been so busy lately that I haven’t had much spare time. I miss it, and look forward to the next lull in my job, so that I can get back to painting. Hope you have a wonderful and creative weekend too!

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      1. I’ll have to look into seeing if I can find it….I am not much of a bulb gardener, not careful enough but who knows. I appreciate your posts so much and I think that you approach it in a scientific way but also personable that appeals to me. They seem to grab that “inner nature child” in me. 🙂

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  2. I love these and plant them in plenty in my client’s yards. They are some of the last flowers to bloom here and as you stated, deer resistant is the key in the Midwest. Deer are as plentiful as squirrels here. They will even eat these when hungry enough.

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  3. We often get small deer in our garden – especially when the snow is covering the mountain tops. Two nights running my wife heard the noise of the shutters banging outside. I was away at the time, so she was rightly nervous. However on the second night she plucked up the courage to open the door to see what it was and there was a huge stag rooting around in what was left of our pot plants. It ran off but we surmised that the antlers had been banging against the shutters !

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  4. Yes, I think she was ! But it was a nice surprise. We’ve taken to leaving out scraps of vegetables in the winter, which attracts the deer and a hare. We think the hare lives out the back of our chalet ,under a bush, as we can see its footprints in the snow. 🙂

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    1. I actually photographed this flower in Manhattan. I’ve also seen websites which talk about growing them quite successfully in the Pacific Northwest, so you can have these beauties in your very own garden… if you already grow bulbs in your garden, you will find these especially easy.

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