A Glory to Behold
Gloriosa lily: also known as the climbing flame lily, the fire lily, or the glory lily. It has many names, but no matter what you call it, it truly is a glory to behold.
This summer bloomer thrives in hot Southern climates and grabs your attention with its fiery red and yellow color. The bloom and the vine both add a texture to the garden that sets off your other summer plants. Usually we get that kind of contrast through form and color — but this one explodes with red, yellow, and glossy dark green all at once, on a vine unlike anything else we grow. And because there are always several blooms going in different stages, for weeks at a time, every single day is an adventure.
Origin and Names
Start with the surprise: the Gloriosa lily isn’t a lily at all. It isn’t even in the lily family. It belongs to the Colchicaceae family. You may have heard it called any number of things — gloriosa lily, glory lily, fire lily, flame lily, climbing lily, creeping lily, cat’s claw, or tiger’s claw.
It comes in several colors, but the variety we carry is Gloriosa rothschildiana. The name honors the second Baron Rothschild, who is credited with bringing this beauty to Europe from Africa.
Is it a tuber or a rhizome? Some people call it a rhizomatous tuber; others call it a tuberous rhizome. We’ll just call it beautiful.
Planting & Care
Planting: Plant the tubers on their sides in well-drained soil, about two to four inches deep. Plant them on the deeper end and the vines will come up shorter. These tubers like to be moist but not wet. Because this is a vine, give it a trellis or a fence — it will climb six to eight feet. Set the tubers several inches back from the support so they have room to mature and multiply, and space them about four to eight inches apart. Water newly planted tubers daily until you see growth, then back off to every couple of days — they like the equivalent of about an inch a week.
Sun: Put the tubers where they’ll get at least six to eight hours of summer sun. This is a tropical plant; it needs that sun. In zone 8 they do great in full sun to a little shade. In the extreme heat of zones 9 and 10, they do best with a break from direct sun late in the afternoon.
In pots: This beauty does wonderfully in a pot — which is exactly how a gardener in a colder zone can grow it and then move it somewhere protected for the winter. In pots you’ll water more often, but be sure the drainage is excellent. Pots also let you “contain” the vine and move it where you want it each season: a trellis on the porch one year, a fence line the next, or by the mailbox for a splash of color. The tubers multiply, so check your pots at season’s end to see whether you need to divide some out.
Blooming: In the heat of July on through fall, the flower opens wide to show all its glory, over a span of about four weeks. Each bloom hangs “upside down” and then opens its six red-and-yellow tepals — two to three inches long — reflexing them backward until they point straight up. The green stamens beneath add one more unusual note of color. Some tepals run deep red and yellow, others on the very same vine look almost pink, and the colors deepen as the bloom ages, so no two flowers are ever quite the same. A light monthly fertilizer encourages blooms and growth. The most common reason for a Gloriosa that won’t bloom is a lack of sun — and too much fertilizer will push the plant to make foliage instead of flowers.
Vines: This is the only tuber or bulb we carry that becomes a vine. We’ve grown it in pots and in the ground against the fence. It doesn’t blanket the fence — but it adds beautiful greenery and pops of color to an otherwise ordinary line of sight. After the vine climbs a few feet, it starts to travel horizontally as it blooms, giving you flowers up and down the fence line.
Cut flowers: This tuber is genuinely easy to grow, and it hands you gorgeous cut flowers. We cut a single stem carrying four blooms and it looked amazing in a vase — imagine a few of these peeking out of a mixed arrangement, or a vase of nothing but these.
After blooming / winter: As with most perennial bulbs, do not cut the foliage while it’s still green — it’s feeding the tuber for next year’s flowers. Once the foliage has died back and gone completely yellow, cut it off for the winter. In zone 8 and parts of 9, consider mulching over the tubers for the winter, especially any planted away from the house, since they won’t survive a hard freeze.
A Few Things Worth Knowing
All parts of this plant are toxic if eaten in quantity — the tubers most of all. That toxicity is a family trait: the Colchicaceae are the source of colchicine, the compound long used to treat gout, and in small, careful amounts Gloriosa has a history in traditional medicine. In the garden, treat it as an ornamental to enjoy with your eyes, and keep the tubers away from anyone inclined to dig and taste.
The flowers are resistant to deer and rabbits. They do, however, draw pollinators — butterflies especially — most likely pulled in by all that vivid color.
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