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Natal lily

3 photos

Willow Coville / Wikimedia Commons - CC BY-SA 4.0

Natal lily

Clivia miniata

An evergreen, clump-forming shade perennial grown for its bold rounded heads of funnel-shaped orange (or yellow) flowers held on stout stalks above arching, strap-shaped, dark-green leaves in late winter and spring. Known respectfully as the Natal lily, bush lily, or simply clivia, it is one of the finest plants for dry shade in frost-free gardens and a classic houseplant everywhere else. Native to South Africa - the Cape provinces, KwaZulu-Natal, and Eswatini (POWO, Kew) - it is frost-tender (hardy roughly in USDA zones 9b-11) and is grown in a container or as a houseplant wherever winters dip below freezing. Two things are load-bearing: grown indoors it needs a cool, dry winter rest of about six to eight weeks kept cool and barely watered to set flower buds, then warmth and water to bloom; and every part is toxic (lycorine and related alkaloids) to people and pets if eaten, with sap that can irritate skin. It resents disturbance and flowers best when slightly pot-bound, so it is happiest left alone in the same pot for years.

Climate fit: narrow (17/100)

Container

Border

Focal point

Light

Part shade

Water

Moderate water

Mature size

12-24" tall · 18" apart

Hardy in zones

9b-11

frosty to nearly frost-free winters

Native in Illinois

No

Grown strictly as an ornamental and houseplant, never for food: all parts of clivia contain lycorine and related alkaloids and are toxic to people and pets if eaten, and the fleshy sap can irritate skin.

°C

°F

Cold hardiness

These values are location-based: this location's current hardiness is the baseline, and the 2050 value is a projected future climate for this same location.

Now

Zone 6b

Plotwright

USDA Zone 6b

-5°F to 0°F

Won't grow here

2050

2100

Zone 7a

Plotwright

0°F to 5°F

Won't grow here

In plain terms: This location has cold winters. Its winters are projected to keep warming through 2050.

✕

Out of range today and still out of range in 2050.

Heat tolerance

Heat tolerance values are location-based too: heat days today are observed at this site, and the 2050 value projects this same location under a future climate.

Loading AHS heat-zone data for this location...

Where this plant fits

Suitable across 2 ecoregions - 2 climate-resilient through 2070. Best matches first.

California coastal sage and chaparral

›

Fynbos shrubland

›

What it needs

Conditions

Light

Part shade

Water

Moderate water

Spacing

18"

Habit

Evergreen, clump-forming shade perennial with arching strap-shaped leaves; frost-tender (zone 9b+), toxic, and best left pot-bound

Care tips

•

Give it the cool, dry winter rest it needs to flower: keep an indoor plant cool and barely watered for about six to eight weeks, then move it to warmth and resume watering to bring on the flower stalks.

•

Leave it pot-bound - clivia resents disturbance and blooms best when slightly crowded, so do not rush to repot or divide it; shift it up only when it has truly outgrown its container.

•

Keep it frost-free and out of harsh direct sun: it is tender (zone 9b+) and a shade lover, so grow it in dry to moderate shade outdoors and bring container plants indoors before frost.

Lifecycle

Planting

In frost-free gardens (zones 9b-11) plant clivia in dry to moderate shade in rich, well-drained soil, spacing clumps about 18 inches apart; it thrives in the dry shade under trees where little else flowers. Everywhere colder, grow it in a container of free-draining potting mix that can be moved indoors before frost. Wear gloves and site it away from where children or pets might browse, since all parts are toxic and the sap can irritate skin.

Transplanting

Move or pot up clivia only when you must, because it resents disturbance and flowers best when slightly pot-bound. If a clump has truly outgrown its pot, shift it up one size in spring after flowering, keeping the fleshy roots intact; do not rush to repot a plant that is blooming well.

Early growth

Keep young plants in shade with moderate, even moisture in the growing season and never waterlogged. Growth is unhurried; seed-grown clivia takes several years to reach flowering size, while offsets bloom sooner. Feed lightly through spring and summer and let the plant build a strong clump of leaves before expecting flowers.

Maturity

Matures into a long-lived evergreen clump of arching strap-shaped leaves about 12 to 24 inches tall that flowers in late winter and spring. Indoors the bloom depends on a cool, dry winter rest of about six to eight weeks (kept cool and barely watered) to trigger flower buds, after which warmth and water bring the heads of orange or yellow funnel-shaped flowers; the better established and more pot-bound the clump, the more freely it flowers.

Propagation

Easiest by removing rooted offsets from the side of an established clump after flowering, each with its own roots and fan of leaves, and potting them on. It also grows from seed sown from the ripe red berries, but seed is slow and seedlings take several years to flower; because the plant resents disturbance, division is kept to a minimum and offsets are preferred.

Plant this, not that

Better fit for this place

For Chicago, IL, these are replacement suggestions: similar plants with a stronger hardiness fit now and/or in 2050.

Hyacinthus orientalis

Common hyacinth

A spring-flowering bulb grown for dense upright spikes of waxy, star-shaped florets in blue, purple, pink, red, or white - famous for an intense, sometimes overpowering fragrance. Plant bulbs in mid-fall for an April bloom; flower quality typically declines after the first year, so the densest spikes often need replanting every couple of seasons. Every part of the bulb is mildly toxic and the sap can cause contact dermatitis, so gloves are advised when planting.

Perennial

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Better fit now and in 2050

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Hylotelephium 'Herbstfreude'

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A clump-forming herbaceous perennial grown for its showy late-season flower heads: masses of tiny star-like flowers borne in flattened cymes 3 to 6 inches across that emerge rosy pink, deepen to rose-red, and fade to coppery-rust as they die. Gray-green, fleshy, succulent-like leaves form upright clumps to about 24 inches. Easily grown in dry-to-medium, well-drained soil in full sun, it is drought tolerant and attracts butterflies, and its foliage and dead inflorescences persist into winter for added interest.

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Better fit now and in 2050

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Leucanthemum × superbum

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Better fit now and in 2050

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Tricyrtis hirta

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Tricyrtis hirta is a hardy herbaceous perennial native to the shaded rocky cliffs and stream banks of central and southern Japan (Wikipedia), prized for its orchid-like, white-to-pale-purple flowers speckled with dark purple spots that bloom in late summer and autumn when little else flowers. It fills a genuine gap in the shade garden calendar, bringing unusual beauty to north-facing borders and woodland edges. The honest catch is twofold: it demands consistently moist, humus-rich soil and absolutely detests drought or waterlogging, and its late-emerging, hairy stems are magnets for slugs in spring - a lapse in mollusc control can shred a clump before it even flowers.

Perennial

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Better fit now and in 2050

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2050: well-suited

Similar plants

Browse lateral options with similar roles, light needs, size, or native-range overlap; these are not filtered for a better climate fit.

Open pink and white Hippeastrum hybrid flowers showing trumpet-shaped blooms with prominent stamens in a garden setting

Hippeastrum x hybridum

Amaryllis

Hippeastrum x hybridum is a complex garden hybrid derived from six or more wild Hippeastrum species native to tropical and subtropical South America, developed through intensive breeding since the late 18th century and now the dominant "amaryllis" sold worldwide as a holiday bulb. It produces spectacular trumpet-shaped flowers - 5 to 8 inches across - on stout leafless scapes in red, pink, white, orange, salmon, or bicolour, making it one of the most dramatic winter-flowering houseplants available. The honest catch is toxicity: the entire plant, especially the bulb, contains lycorine and related alkaloids at concentrations that cause vomiting, salivation, tremors, and hypotension in pets and children, so it must be placed out of reach and handled with care.

Perennial

Part sun / Part shade

Hyacinthus orientalis

Common hyacinth

A spring-flowering bulb grown for dense upright spikes of waxy, star-shaped florets in blue, purple, pink, red, or white - famous for an intense, sometimes overpowering fragrance. Plant bulbs in mid-fall for an April bloom; flower quality typically declines after the first year, so the densest spikes often need replanting every couple of seasons. Every part of the bulb is mildly toxic and the sap can cause contact dermatitis, so gloves are advised when planting.

Perennial

Full sun / Part shade

Veltheimia bracteata, the forest lily, is a winter-growing bulbous perennial from the forest margins and coastal scrub of South Africa's Eastern Cape, grown for its glossy rosette of wavy-edged strap leaves and a tall, dense raceme of pendent tubular flowers in shades of pink to rose, blooming in late winter through spring when little else is in flower. It is frost-tender (RHS H2): it tolerates cool conditions but not freezing, so outside roughly USDA zone 9b-11 it is grown as a container or conservatory bulb, dormant and dry through summer. It thrives in semi-shade with humus-rich, well-drained soil and makes an excellent pot specimen. The bird-pollinated flowers attract sunbirds. As a member of Asparagaceae (subfamily Scilloideae), it is grown for ornament only; the bulb is toxic and must not be eaten. It is well-behaved and not reported as invasive.

Perennial

Part shade / Part sun

A bold, clump-forming evergreen perennial from South Africa, grown for big rounded umbels of trumpet-shaped blue (or white) flowers held on tall bare stalks above arching, strap-shaped leaves in mid-to-late summer. It is widely sold as "lily of the Nile," but that is a misnomer - the plant is South African (the Cape provinces and KwaZulu-Natal), not from the Nile. Spectacular and easy in warm climates, this evergreen Agapanthus is frost-tender, so in cold-winter areas it is grown in a container and overwintered under cover. The RHS has given several Agapanthus praecox forms its Award of Garden Merit and rates this evergreen species half-hardy (H3 - needs winter protection).

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Hylotelephium 'Herbstfreude'

Autumn-joy stonecrop

A clump-forming herbaceous perennial grown for its showy late-season flower heads: masses of tiny star-like flowers borne in flattened cymes 3 to 6 inches across that emerge rosy pink, deepen to rose-red, and fade to coppery-rust as they die. Gray-green, fleshy, succulent-like leaves form upright clumps to about 24 inches. Easily grown in dry-to-medium, well-drained soil in full sun, it is drought tolerant and attracts butterflies, and its foliage and dead inflorescences persist into winter for added interest.

Perennial

Full sun / Part shade

Scadoxus multiflorus, the blood lily (also fireball lily, ball lily, powderpuff lily), is a summer-growing bulbous geophyte in the Amaryllidaceae, native across tropical and southern Africa to the southwestern Arabian Peninsula. Each bulb sends up a leafless stem topped by a dramatic globe-shaped umbel of scarlet flowers with protruding stamens, often before or alongside the foliage. It is a focal-point container and bedding bulb prized for its bold flower head, but it is decidedly tender - RHS rates it H1B (minimum 50 to 59°F), so outside roughly USDA zones 9b–11 it must be grown under glass or as a houseplant and dried off / overwintered frost-free. CRITICAL CAUTION: every part is toxic - Scadoxus contains poisonous alkaloids and has been used as a component of arrow and fishing poisons; the bulbs are ornamental, not edible, and the plant is harmful to people, pets, and grazing animals if ingested. Handle with gloves and keep away from children and animals.

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Educator packet

Plant packet

Natal lily educator packet

An evergreen, clump-forming shade perennial grown for its bold rounded heads of funnel-shaped orange (or yellow) flowers held on stout stalks above arching, strap-shaped, dark-green leaves in late winter and spring. Known respectfully as the Natal lily, bush lily, or simply clivia, it is one of the finest plants for dry shade in frost-free gardens and a classic houseplant everywhere else. Native to South Africa - the Cape provinces, KwaZulu-Natal, and Eswatini (POWO, Kew) - it is frost-tender (hardy roughly in USDA zones 9b-11) and is grown in a container or as a houseplant wherever winters dip below freezing. Two things are load-bearing: grown indoors it needs a cool, dry winter rest of about six to eight weeks kept cool and barely watered to set flower buds, then warmth and water to bloom; and every part is toxic (lycorine and related alkaloids) to people and pets if eaten, with sap that can irritate skin. It resents disturbance and flowers best when slightly pot-bound, so it is happiest left alone in the same pot for years.

Scientific name

Clivia miniata

Plant type

perennial

Hardiness

9b-11

Light

part-shade

Moisture

moderate

Spacing

18 inches