Fun Facts

Lily-of-the-Valley

A Lily-of-the-valley is a small, dainty, bellshaped, flowering, ground cover shrub with a charming, sweet aroma. They bloom in May and are a sign of the upcoming summer. Lilyofthe-Valley are also known as: Lady’s Tears, May Lily, and May bells. They are not actually a Lily but a member of the Asparagus family; whose flowers represent sweetness, purity, humility, and virtue. Legend believes that Apollo created the ground cover flower for nymphs to walk on.

In Christian lore, Lily-of-the-Valley represent Eve’s tears when she was expelled from the Garden of Eden and sprouted from Mary’s tears at the site of Christ’s crucifixion. The flower is mentioned several times in the Bible and has been associated with Christ’s second coming.

In France Lily-of-the-Valley were gifted as symbols of good luck and prosperity. Newlyweds in Europe have the good luck flowers in their bouquets, including Princess Diana and Kate Middleton. In England they are worn during the Furry Dance an ancient celebration celebrated on May 8th every year. Lily-of-the-valley are the national flower of Finland.

These flowers grow well in shaded garden beds, rock gardens and wild woodland gardens with sweet smelling blooms that last 2-4 weeks. The down side is the root system is incredibly strong, deep most difficult to dig up and therefore the flower is hard to get rid of once established, and they are poisonous. Beware once planted: they are invasive and will happily take over the whole garden (T. Goodwin).