Lily of the Valley, Spring Woodland Flower

Lily of the Valley, convallaria majalis. . . belonging to May... the return of happiness.

Legend has it the  Lily of the Valley,  convallaria majalis, blooms every May to ensure the return of the nightingale. The floral emblem of Yugoslavia and the national flower of Findland, this fragrant spring bell-shaped flower is also known as Mary's tears. This imperiling and much sought after plant for perfumes, floral arrangements and my favorite spring flower* has a secret. All the parts of the plant are highly poisonous, including the red berries. This plant though very pleasing to the senses of sight and smell, can cause abdominal pain, vomiting and reduced heart rate. . . how could something so beautiful potentially cause so much pain and suffering? 

West side of house, contained lily of the valleys

Native to the Northern Hemisphere, this herbaceous perennial plant is spread by rhizomes, causing a massive carpet as a root system smothering any other competing plant that also would thrive in moist shaded organic soils. Resistant to the browsing deer that visit our yard, unlike the hosta, day lilies and tulips that the deer so enjoy in my garden, the lily of the valleys just keep spreading.

It all started when moving to our present home, I brought a clump of lily of the valley plants with us.
Planting them on the west side of our house, they have done very well. I can pick several bouquets to enjoy in the house mixed with other spring flowers.

I then decided to  plant them in the main garden and these plants have been like plants on steroids. Because of the invasiveness of the plants, they are everywhere in our garden, I actually have changed my favorite spring flower *to the lilac.

Two years ago, I decided to take matters into hand and started to remove the lily of the valleys in the main garden and in their spot I wanted to put a fountain and water element. It took me days and I filled 12 garden trash bags full of the plant.

Fountain with lily of the valley plants still lurking beneath.

The fountain was installed and it is a great addition to the garden. The fountian is bittersweet.  I knew the stolons and pieces of rhizomes that I didn't completely remove would come back to haunt me. I had not seen the end of the lily of the valleys.

I was right, so yesterday, I spent two hours digging the newly emerging lily of the valleys around the fountain. The moral of this story is, if you have been told something is invasive, listen, and if you choose to still included it in your garden, take the proper precautions to contain the plant.

Enjoy this last day of April and its showers!