Native Trout Lily Adds Early Spring Color to Shade

Yellow Trout Lily Care

Deb Perry/Getty Images

• Erythronium americanum
• Zones 3 to 9
• Light needs: Partial shade
• Soil: Rich, moist soils
• Size: Up to 8 inches tall

Yellow trout lily is a spring ephemeral wildflower that adds a brief bright spot of early color to partially shaded wooded areas and native plant gardens. It receives the sunlight that it needs because it blooms before trees fully leaf out in spring.

This low-growing perennial plant gets its unique name because the brown mottled leaf spots are said to resemble the spots on a trout. Deer and rabbits typically leave trout lilies alone, perhaps because the spotted foliage blends in with its woodland surroundings. It is also sometimes known by the common names dogtooth violet and fawn lily, but it is not a violet.

See the top 10 beautiful lily flowers to love.

Courtesy Stuart Fiedler

“In the spring, in our back woods, we have trillium, bloodroot, and trout lilies. They only last for a couple of weeks, so I hunt every day starting in early April. I didn’t understand how the trout lily got its name until I looked at its leaves in this photograph (I was always looking at the flower),” says Birds & Blooms reader Stuart Fiedler.

Psst! Grow the Stella D’Oro Daylily for a dazzling garden star.

Pagoda Trout Lily

Jacky Parker Photography/Getty Images

Pagoda (Erythronium ‘Pagoda’) is one of the largest trout lilies, standing up to 12 inches tall, and one of the easiest to grow. In addition to the sunny yellow flowers, the plant’s leaves are a glossy green, sporting bronze and maroon markings that fade later in the growing season. This member of the lily family goes dormant after flowering so plant it among other shade-loving perennials that bloom in early summer such as ferns and hostas.

Next, learn how to grow a blackberry lily for bold color.