Also called the Red-Hot Poker Plant, the Torch Lily is a pretty nifty addition to my garden. They originate from South Africa and Madagascar. I bought some rhizome-type bulbs on a fluke several years ago, from a catalog store. These perennial plants are hardy to Zone 5 (I am in Zone 4). They are heat- and drought-tolerant (but need water during their growing time), and require full sun.
These had a rather shaky first year, but after that, they have been incredible, easy-care plants. My plants get a lot of abuse, too. My property is situated in a marshy area of the town (there’s a muddy, murky, burgeoning swamp in the neighbor’s back yard); my land rests at the bottom of a very steep hill, and rests in one of the lowest spots in the area. We get a lot of water. As a matter of fact, we are convinced that there is a powerful stream or creek that flows beneath the surface of our land. When digging post holes, we reach water at two feet. Plus, the topography of our land changes dramatically every year. There’s SOMETHING going on under our turf, that’s for sure.
Well, my Torch Lilies are planted in a small strip of soil between the house foundation and the driveway– an area of about 3 feet wide. The ice from the eaves crashes down in that section all winter long, and the plow mows the snowbanks right there, too. Plus, there’s the salt and dirt and movement that attacks any plant next to a driveway. The Torch Lilies continue to shine. 
I do not fertilize them, I don’t deadhead them after blooming, I don’t do anything to them! The soil they call home is graveley and not very nutritious, either. But they bloom every year. I love these things!
The Torch Lily grows to about 3 or 4 feet high. They have lots of sword-shaped leaves. The shoots pop up sometime in early June, looking a little like light-green Grape Hyacinths (but much taller and larger). After about a week or two, they burst in color of yellows, oranges, and a dash of light red at the tops. My Torch Lilies always get comments from my visitors– these are quite showy and are rather rare for an Upstate New York cottage garden, I suppose.
Eventually I plan to move these to a larger, more showy part of my garden, but the Torch Lilies seem so happy here right now. I’ve read that they don’t like being disturbed (which is why they took a year or two to establish), so divide them sparingly.
25. June 2009 at 9:26 pm
Those are really lovely, thanks for sharing that interesting info and the beautiful photos.
2. July 2009 at 9:37 am
I really enjoy your blog on your lily plants. My friend gave me some similar plants from her garden two years ago. Year after year they come back in full glory. Indeed easy to care. I am no gardener, so I enjoy reading about real people with real plants in their garden.