Convallaria Majalis 400

Latin Name: Convallaria majalis

Common Name: Lily of the Valley

Zones: 2–7 (sometimes listed to zone 9)

Height & Spread: 6–12 inches tall, spreading 12–24 inches wide (colonizes to form extensive, indefinite patches)

Descriptive Features: A beloved, old-fashioned garden classic and treasured harbinger of late spring, forming a dense, spreading colony of broad, glossy, deep green lance-shaped leaves that emerge in pairs from creeping underground rhizomes called pips. In mid to late spring, slender, arching stems send up delicate racemes of small, nodding, bell-shaped white flowers with a famously sweet, powerful fragrance long prized in perfumery — one of the most fragrant flowers in the garden despite its diminutive size. Blooms are followed in fall by small orange-red berries, which are attractive but toxic if ingested, as are all parts of the plant; caution is warranted around children and pets. Spreads vigorously via rhizomes to form a thick, weed-suppressing groundcover over time, making it an excellent, extremely low-maintenance choice for difficult dry shade beneath trees where little else thrives, though its spreading nature means it's best kept away from more delicate companions or contained where a tidier footprint is desired. Deer- and rabbit-resistant thanks to its toxicity, and long-lived once established, often persisting for decades with essentially no care. An excellent choice for woodland gardens, shaded groundcover beneath shrubs and trees, or naturalized areas in part shade to full shade with average to moist, well-drained soil.