GrowingHQ
OrnamentalbulbousSome care needed

Tiger flower

Tigridia pavonia

Three broad petals in a flat triangle around a spotted cup, in scarlet, orange, yellow or white — and each flower lasts a single day. A succession of them opens through late summer, which makes it a plant for somebody who is in the garden most days and a poor one for anybody who is not.

Position
Full sun
Water
moderate demand
Drainage
Free-draining
Grows to
45–70 cm × 10–20 cm
Hardiness
H3
Harvest
October
Difficulty
Some care needed

August

In flower

Tiger flower’s year

Resolved for United Kingdom (general). Every window is stored against a climate event rather than a date, so a late frost pocket runs later than the band shows. What else August calls for.

ActivityJFMAMJJASOND
PlantApril. May.
In flowerJuly. August. September.
HarvestOctober.

Timing that travels

The band above resolves this plant's windows into months for one region. These are the windows themselves, stored against a climate event rather than a date — which is the form that survives being carried to a colder garden, a frost pocket, or next year.

Conditions it needs

Light
Full sun
Frost
Frost tender
Hardiness rating
H3 (RHS)
Grows best at
15–28 °C
Soil
Sandy, Loam
Soil pH
6–7.5
Drainage
Free-draining
Water needs
moderate
Drought
moderate tolerance
Waterlogging
poor tolerance
Heat
good tolerance
Wind and exposure
poor tolerance
Where these figures come from
LightSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Tiger flower — position

Checked 2026-08-13

FrostSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Tiger flower — hardiness

Checked 2026-08-13

Hardiness ratingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: RHS hardiness ratings

Checked 2026-08-13

Grows best atSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Tiger flower — temperature

Checked 2026-08-13

SoilSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Tiger flower — soil

Checked 2026-08-13

Soil pHSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Tigridia pavonia — culture

Checked 2026-08-13

DrainageSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Tiger flower — soil

Checked 2026-08-13

Water needsHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

DroughtHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

WaterloggingHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

Corms rot in cold wet winter ground.

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

HeatHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Wind and exposureHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

On your soil

Computed by comparing this plant's recorded requirements against each soil's recorded characteristics. A recorded horticultural fact overrides the comparison where GrowingHQ holds one.

SoilVerdictWhy
Heavy clayWorks, with one conditionTiger flower will crop on heavy clay, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.
SandyPrefers this soilSandy suits Tiger flower as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 7.5, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Sandy soil is among the soils it is recorded as suiting.
Chalky and alkalineGrows well hereTiger flower grows perfectly well on chalky and alkaline without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
LoamPrefers this soilLoam suits Tiger flower as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 7.5, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Loam is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering.
SiltyPrefers this soilSilty suits Tiger flower as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 7.5, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering.
Peaty and acidWorks, with one conditionTiger flower will crop on peaty and acid, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.
Shallow over rockPrefers this soilShallow over rock suits Tiger flower as it stands: The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Loam is among the soils it is recorded as suiting.
Made ground and urban soilWorks, with one conditionTiger flower will crop on made ground and urban soil, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.

Not sure which you have? Four hand tests will settle it.

Space and spacing

Mature height
45–70 cm
Mature spread
10–20 cm
Rooting depth
25 cm
Spacing
10–15 cm apart
Where these figures come from
Mature heightHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Mature spreadHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Rooting depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

SpacingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Tiger flower — spacing

Checked 2026-08-13

How far apart to plant tiger flowerThree tiger flower plants drawn in a row at their recorded spacing of 10–15 cm between plants. The spacing is drawn to scale against a one metre rule; the plants themselves are symbols rather than scale drawings, so the distance between them is the part to read.10–15 cm
Measured centre to centre. Plants set closer than this compete for light and water long before they look crowded, and the crowding cannot be undone once they are in.

In a container

Minimum volume
5 litres or more
Minimum depth
25 cm
Where the container figures come from
Minimum volumeHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
  • Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Tigridia pavonia

Checked 2026-08-13

Minimum depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
  • Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Tigridia pavonia

Checked 2026-08-13

Usually grown in a pot in Britain, which is what makes it practical: the corms must be lifted or kept dry over winter, and a pot can simply be moved somewhere frost-free. Plant several to a pot — each flower lasts one day, so a thin planting looks empty more often than it looks spectacular.

Habit and ultimate size

What the plant becomes, rather than what it is when you buy it. The gap between the two is where most planting mistakes live.

In a container
Workable in a container, with conditions
Where these figures come from
In a containerHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Bulb, corm, rhizome and tuber comparedFour underground storage organs drawn in section at the same scale. A true bulb is layered scales around a growing point on a flat basal plate, and multiplies by offsets that pull apart by hand. A corm is a solid swollen stem base with a bud on top, the previous year's spent corm beneath it and small cormlets at its sides. A rhizome is a horizontal swollen stem that sits at soil level with roots below and a growing point at one end, and must not be buried. A tuber is a swollen stem with growth buds scattered over its whole surface and no basal plate, so a cut piece without a bud on it cannot grow.True bulbbasal plateDaffodil, tulip, lilyPull offsets apart by hand.Cormspent corm below, cormlets asideCrocus, gladiolus, crocosmiaReplaced yearly by a new one on top.Rhizomesoil level — top stays exposedBearded irisCut with a knife. Must not be buried.Tuberbuds scattered, no basal plateCyclamen, potatoA cut piece without a bud will rot.
All four are sold as 'bulbs'. The differences are internal, which is why they are drawn rather than photographed — and each one changes what you physically do with the thing in your hand.
Storage organ
Corm
Survives winter in the ground
No — lift and store, or treat as annual
Planting depth
8–10 cm
Naturalises
Stays where it is put
Where these figures come from
Storage organSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Tigridia pavonia — propagation

Checked 2026-08-13

Survives winter in the groundSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Tigridia pavonia — hardiness

Checked 2026-08-13

Planting depthSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Tigridia pavonia — planting depth

Checked 2026-08-13

NaturalisesHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

A solid swollen stem base, not layered. The old corm is used up each season and a new one forms on top of it, often with small cormlets around the base that take a year or two to reach flowering size.

How deep to plant a bulb, drawn to scaleEight geophytes drawn at one scale against a soil surface line, each at the depth the catalogue records for it. A bearded iris rhizome sits on top of the soil with only its roots buried. A cyclamen tuber and a nerine bulb are barely covered, at 2 to 3 centimetres, the nerine with its neck standing proud. Snowdrops and crocuses go at 8 to 10 centimetres, a daffodil at 10 to 15, a tulip at 15 to 20 and a lily deepest at 15 to 25 centimetres. Most sit at roughly two to three times their own height, and the shallow exceptions are shallow because the organ must bake in the sun to flower.soil surface5 cm10 cm15 cm20 cmBearded irison topon the surfaceCyclamen2 cmjust coveredNerine2 cmneck proudSnowdrop9 cmCrocus9 cmDaffodil13 cmTulip18 cmplant deepLily20 cmstem roots
Two to three times the bulb's own height is the working rule, and the four plants that break it are the four most often planted wrong. A bearded iris buried by mulch or a tidy neighbour will make leaves for years and never flower again.
Lifting and storing. Lift in October before the ground turns cold and wet, dry the corms off and store them frost-free. As with a gladiolus the old corm is spent and replaced by a new one above it, with cormlets round the base that take a year or two to reach flowering size.
source

Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Where and how you can grow it

Each way of growing is assessed separately, and “not assessed” is a real answer rather than a gap we have filled in with a guess.

MethodSuitabilityWhat it needs
Open groundWell suited
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

Traditional dug bedWell suited
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

Raised bedWell suited
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

ContainerWorkable
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

Growing it

  • HarvestingLift in autumn, dry the corms and store them frost-free. As with a gladiolus the old corm is used up and replaced by a new one on top, with cormlets around the base that reach flowering size in a year or two.
  • PlantingPlant a decent group rather than a few. Each flower lasts one day, so a handful of corms gives a scattered display and twenty gives a succession worth having from July onwards.
  • ProtectionNot reliably hardy anywhere in Britain, so lift the bulbs once the foliage yellows in autumn, dry them for a fortnight and store them frost-free and dry over the winter — the same routine as gladiolus. Bulbs in pots can simply have the pot moved somewhere frost-free and kept dry rather than being lifted at all.
  • WateringKeep it watered through the summer while it is in growth and flowering — each flower lasts a single day and a succession of them depends on the plant not being checked, so a dry fortnight simply stops the display. Reduce water from September and stop entirely once the foliage yellows, so the corm ripens and goes into store dry. In a pot, which is how it is most often grown in Britain, this is easy to control and is the main argument for growing it in one.
  • FeedingA high-potash liquid feed every couple of weeks through the growing season, stopping in September. As with a gladiolus, the corm is replaced annually rather than topped up, so the feeding done this summer is what produces a flowering-sized corm for next year — an unfed plant in a pot of exhausted compost typically gives one good season and then a run of small corms that produce leaves only.
Where this guidance comes from
HarvestingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Tigridia — lifting and storing

Checked 2026-08-13

PlantingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Tigridia pavonia — culture

Checked 2026-08-13

ProtectionSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Tigridia — cultivation

Checked 2026-08-13

WateringSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Tigridia pavonia

Checked 2026-08-13

FeedingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Tigridia pavonia

Checked 2026-08-13

Harvesting

  • When it is readyNothing is picked: each flower lasts a single day and the crop is the bulbs. Lift them once the foliage has yellowed in autumn and before the first frost — tigridia is not reliably hardy anywhere in Britain and is treated much as gladiolus is.
  • How to pick itFork the clump up, cut the old foliage away and dry the bulbs somewhere warm and airy for a couple of weeks before storing.
Where the harvest guidance comes from
When it is readySourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Tigridia — cultivation

Checked 2026-08-13

How to pick itHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Safety and edibility

Cats and dogs

Pet safety not established

Safety around cats and dogs has not been established for Tiger flower. Absence from a toxicity list is not the same as being listed as safe.
Insufficient evidenceconfidence unknown

No accepted animal-toxicology authority names Tigridia pavonia. Its family, the Iridaceae, contains plants that are listed as harmful — irises among them — so the absence of a listing here is genuinely an absence rather than a reassurance, and inferring safety from the genera around it is exactly the reasoning this model refuses.

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

    Sources for this page

    GrowingHQ editorial synthesis · Plant Finder · Royal Horticultural Society

    Each figure on this page carries its own citation, under the “where these figures come from” note in its section. Record last reviewed 2026-08-14.