Convallaria majalis are capricious plants which often have strange ideas about where to spring up
When planting, avoid beds where ground elder or other perennial weeds might infiltrate. It will be impossible to weed these out without disturbing your convallaria colony.
Although lifting and replanting lily of the valley is recommended for autumn, I’ve often moved plants now just before they come into growth
C. m. ‘Albostriata’ with its distinctive variegated leaves
How to grow...
Lily of the valley
If you need lush, spreading springtime groundcover, you can’t get much more fragrant or enchanting than the dreamy lily of the valley, as Anne Swithinbank explains…
All photography Swithinbank / TI Media, unless otherwise credited
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ONVALLARIA majalis is a British native that was once widespread in the drier woodlands of eastern areas. Yet despite growing up in Kent, I have never seen it outside of parks and gardens. Left undisturbed, the plants make spreading colonies, dying back in autumn to overwinter as underground rhizomes. The ‘pips’ supplied by mail order are growth buds poised on these rhizomes, each ready to send up a pair of leaves enclosing a stem of flower buds. Rising to 8in (20cm), they hold pretty white bells on one side. The flowering period is all the more special for being so short, and we look forward eagerly every May to the chance of picking some fragrant bunches for the house. In France, posies of ‘Muguet des bois’ are traditional May Day gifts. 26 AMATEUR GARDENING 8 FEBRUARY 2020
For all its sweetness, convallaria is a poisonous plant in all parts and the berries can be tempting, so be wary where small children or young pets are using a garden. On the plus side, those of us with rural gardens visited by deer
Pulmonaria, convallaria and bluebells
and rabbits will find their lily of the valley left well alone. Colonies of plants suit woodland gardens and cottage style borders, and with a long history of cultivation they sit well in the plots of Medieval and Tudor buildings. Here, there and everywhere A gardener can read up on the ideal spot for lily of the valley and find it likes a moist, humus-rich soil in sun or partial shade. Yet these capricious plants often have their own idea about where to settle. In my experience, they are not keen on what looks like a promising bed of good soil. Instead, they gravitate to path edges and sidle along the roots of established plants. In my grandparents’ garden, they grew in a narrow bed alongside tall bearded iris. Ours thrive in a slightly raised, east-facing border.
