4 minute read
To Conclude Non Morris considers the
Belle of the Ball
Gleaming on the woodland floor, romantic and ethereal lily of the valley is harder to grow in our gardens, says Non Morris, unless conditions are just right
On the wall of my study, positioned to quietly seduce But even today’s commercialised reality cannot diminish the flower’s me every time I enter, is freshness and delicious a small square painting scent combined, of course, of palest pink lily of the with our romantic notion of valley. The delicate tiers of Paris in the spring. When bell-like flowers are held the exquisite Grace Kelly upright against an earthy married Prince Rainier III ground and framed by an of Monaco in late April in elegant arch of leaves in 1956, she carried a demure singing green. bouquet of tiny pearl-
The painting is by like lily of the valley and Charlotte Verity, who was our hearts have been Artist in Residence at the irrevocably stolen Garden Museum in 2010 ever since. and spent a year painting But how best to in Tradescant’s garden approach lily of the valley beneath the castellated in the garden? Growing walls of neighbouring conditions in the wild Lambeth Palace. Here, vary from sandy acid soil among the formal in ancient woodland to framework of box with its lightly wooded limestone spring halo of brilliant green, pavements in the Yorkshire Charlotte’s observations Dales. The best advice were intimate and intense. is to aim for richer soil In the published diary of in semi-shade, enriched her year, she notes: “April with leafmould – plant in 6th – shy lily of the valley emerging under medlar” reasonably generous groups and don’t let new plants then looks closer again to paint the fairy tale flowers dry out. A magical succession would be snowdrops, suspended in the shadow of generous curving leaves. followed by lily of the valley followed by martagon
The early 20th-century plant hunter, Reginald Farrer lilies, which all enjoy the same conditions. described lily of the valley as anything but shy: ‘the Lily of the valley can, surprisingly, provide smart worst of all delicious weeds when it thrives’. But as groundcover at the base of a north wall and I learnt many who have tried unsuccessfully to grow it will from the designer Christopher Masson that they are agree, achieving the right conditions isn’t easy. Beth happy in pots, becoming handsome, slug-resistant Chatto wrote teasingly in her nursery catalogue: ‘If foliage plants after flowering. Pots are your chance one has humus rich soil, among shrubs, where there to grow special selections: try the pink Convallaria is room for the wandering rhizomes… who would not majalis var. rosea or the pinstripe-leaved ‘Albostriata’. plant lily of the valley for its heady scent in May and The voluptuous Convallaria majalis, grown for La June and the chance to pick handfuls for the house?’ Fête du Muguet in France is often a variety called
In France, La Fête du Muguet is celebrated on 1 May, ‘Géant de Fortin’. It is larger than the species and with a tradition of giving posies of lily of the valley that flowers about ten days later but is in fact as exquisite dates back to the 16th-century court of King Charles and as headily scented. It would be clever to grow IX. I remember seeing cellophane-wrapped cones both, under a medlar tree perhaps, to make the of rather gigantic lily of the valley on sale just about romance last as long as possible. n everywhere in Paris (garages, department stores, backs of vans) when I spent a heady few months there Stockists include bethchatto.co.uk; larchcottage. during my gap year. co.uk; plantsforshade.co.uk
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