Skip to main content

A complete care guide to growing whimsical lily of the valley in your spring garden

From planting to fertilizing, here's how to keep your lily of the valley happy

With their whimsical, bell-shaped blooms and lovely, sweet fragrance, lily of the valley flowers can make for a beloved fixture in any springtime garden. A gorgeous ground cover, the lily of the valley plant is easy to care for. Still, if you're new to these quaint blooms, you might be wondering how to plant and grow them. To help you get started, we've compiled this comprehensive guide on lily of the valley care.

Related Videos

Difficulty

Easy

Duration

30 minutes

What You Need

  • Lily of the valley pips

  • Gardening gloves

  • Mulch

  • Balanced, slow-release fertilizer

  • Garden soil

A lily of the valley

What is the lily of the valley plant?

Native to Asia and Europe, lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis) features quarter-inch, down-facing blooms with thick, ovate leaves. Technically part of the asparagus family, it's commonly found in moist soil in mountain forests, but it's now cultivated as a garden flower or bouquet filler.

The sweetly scented white flowers emerge on short stalks around springtime, spreading through rhizomes in the ground. The plant can sometimes produce red berries, but keep in mind that all parts of it are toxic — you should keep an eye on curious pets and kids.

Cluster of lily of the valley flowers

How to plant lily of the valley

When growing lily of the valley plants, you'll usually be working with rhizomes called pips. Sometimes, you may find pre-chilled pips that have been forced to bloom during the winter, just in time for the holidays. Usually available around October or November, you can plant them in December for them to arrive during the holidays or late winter. Once potted, pre-chilled pips can take as little as three weeks to bloom.

Lily of the valley flowers can be quite simple to plant, whether you keep them in a container or grow them in the ground — they can adapt to most soils. Because they're toxic to ingest and potentially irritating to touch, be sure to handle them with gloves.

Step 1: Set your garden soil in a container or flower bed of your choice. Ideally, you want a cool, partially shaded area to set your pips down.

Step 2: Set clusters of pips 1 to 2 feet apart and single pips 4 to 5 inches apart in the soil.

Step 3: Top dress your soil with 2 to 3 inches of a mulch, such as wood chips.

Step 4: After your lily of the valley plants have bloomed, you can clean the pips and keep them in plastic bags to repot again during the winter.

Lily of the valley plants in terracotta pots

How to care for lily of the valley

Lily of the valley plants are actually quite low maintenance. In fact, some people even consider them aggressive, if not invasive, growers in their garden — they're fairly resistant to most pests and diseases. Here are a few simple care tips to keep your lily of the valley happy.

  • Soil: Lily of the valley plants do best in well-draining, slightly acidic soil that's rich in organic matter. That said, they're highly adaptable to different types of soils.

  • Watering: Your soil should be moist but never soggy. Lily of the valley flowers also like normal humidity levels, so you may have difficulties growing them in dry conditions. Mulch will help with water retention.

  • Lighting: Lily of the valley plants appreciate light but really do best in partial shade. In warm regions, you may even want to give your plant full shade, if possible.

  • Temperature: Lily of the valley flowers are hardy to climate zones 2 to 7, so they fare best in mild, cool temperatures around 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. If you live in a warm climate zone, they may do best as indoor plants.

  • Feeding: You can add compost or manure to your soil when growing it, but you generally don't need to feed your lily of the valley. You can also add a balanced 10-10-10 slow-release fertilizer into the soil once or twice throughout the growing season — 1 tablespoon per square foot should be sufficient.

  • Pruning: You don't need to prune lily of the valley, as its dead foliage can create a mulch for it. Still, you can cut about a quarter of an inch above where the flower stalk connects to the main plant to maintain a tidy look. Because this plant grows aggressively, you can also divide its roots in spring or fall to thin out colonies and promote blooms.

Lily of the valley in grass

Different ways to incorporate lily of the valley into your home garden

Because of their delicate blooms, lily of the valley plants can easily add a whimsical charm to your home garden. As fast bloomers, they look beautiful growing as prolific ground cover beneath trees or shrubs — out in their native habitats, you'll find them growing beneath lush shade trees.

You can also grow them against north-facing walls to keep them away from too much harsh light. Just make sure that wherever you grow them, there's not too much foot traffic to damage their long leaves. If you have pets or kids around, it may be a good idea to keep them in hanging baskets or high, out-of-reach areas.

For small but eye-catching blooms, add lily of the valley blooms into your home garden this spring. The only thing to keep in mind is that lily of the valley is toxic, so protect your hands with gloves and keep the flowers away from your fur babies and little ones. When it comes to the actual plant care, growing lily of the valley only takes a small effort on your part, as you can easily cultivate this dainty, sweet-smelling bloom that spreads prolifically on its own.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
What types of plants can you grow from garden boxes? You’ll be surprised with all your options!
Your comprehensive guide to choosing and setting up a garden box
Garden boxes with legs

Growing plants in containers can be a convenient way to enjoy harvests when you don’t have time or energy to build full-blown garden beds or manage crops directly planted in the ground. However, there may be times when you simply need bigger containers.

There’s where garden boxes come in. While they may sometimes be conflated with raised garden beds, garden boxes are often smaller and much more transportable than beds — many also come with convenient features like wheels and legs, too! If you feel curious about garden boxes, we’ve got you covered with a comprehensive guide on what they are and what you can plant in them.

Read more
Why do gardeners use raised beds? Here are reasons why you should grow crops and flowers in raised gardens
From allowing you to control soil to helping reduce weeds, raised garden beds can come in handy
Raised garden beds

Ask any seasoned gardener why they use raised beds, and the reason likely boils down to control. Raised beds allow you to control what goes into your crops while giving you the luxury of ample space to work with. Control, of course, can mean a wide variety of things. Here are the main reasons you should consider growing your fruits and veggies in raised beds.

1. Raised beds allow you to control your soil conditions
When you grow your plants in a raised bed, you have the power to control the soil that holds your plants. If you're raising edible crops, this means you can choose an organic growing medium for peace of mind. It's also easier to amend the soil to exactly what you need it be, whether you'd like it to be more well draining or acidic.
You ultimately won't have to do a lot of tilling to break up compact soil. Plus, soil also tends to warm up faster in beds during the springtime, so you don't have to wait for the ground to warm up before you start planting.

Read more
Raspberry bush care: Keep yours controlled and producing for years
Tips to help you control and care for your raspberry bushes
Several ripe red raspberries on a vine

Garden fresh fruit and sun-warmed berries are a delicious treat, but what happens when your plant gets out of control? Instead of tasty treats, you could end up with a headache.

Raspberry bushes are one of the plants that are likely to grow wild or become uncontrollable, making harvest time a hassle. If you want fresh raspberries without their vines taking over your garden, follow these tips to keep them in check.

Read more