Lily of the valley is great both as fresh cut flower or dried

Lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis) is known by many and it is considered to be the most sweet-scented flower of the spring. But these little flowers do not only hide under wet bushes and trees. There are many ways you can enjoy this beauty.

It grows wild in deciduous and mixed forests in Europe and North America and if you wander about thefirst written record, you would have to look back to1000 BC. It has become so popular and spread that today you can find it growing widely in many parts of Asia too.

Lily of the valley in your garden

You will recognize this little sweet beauty by its typical oval leaves that somehow resemble the leaves of a hyacinth but its flowers is what makes people fall in love with it – tiny white bells, growing in overhanging clusters.Growing is easy and simple. All you need is a fertile soil, moist and partially shaded place. Lily does not like direct sun. It grows quickly and spread wide so you should define a space for it or you need to weed it regularly.

Photo: Pixabay

You can also grow it in a container or flower pot. To do so, transfer the soil with lily of the valley culture to a large enough pot sometime during the spring and when the fall comes, put it indoors. This is not necessary, but if you do soyour lilies of the valley will begin to sprout much earlier and you can enjoy fully grown lilies earlier . It is nice to have sweet-smelling cute little flowers on your terrace or balcony much earlier than in the wild, right?

Can you actually use lily of the valley?

Well, this tiny beauty is actually poisonous, so you cannot use it as an edible garnish or anything like that. However, you candry the fragrant flowers and use it in a potpourri and of course, you can cut flowers and put them in a vase. They look best alone, but if you want to be more creative try combining them with small roses. If you want to do that, you must follow one important rule – first put the lilies of the valley in water for a few hours. Then change the water and only then add other flowers. This way you will wash away a considerable amount of the poisonous substances and the other flowers will have a better chance to last.

A fun fact: lilies of the valley used to be added to wedding bouquets.

Preview photo: Pixabay