Lily of the Valley

Nature 2 Minutes

Lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis) is not a true lily; it’s actually part of the asparagus family, though its foliage is reminiscent of some lilies. Medium green leaves about 5 to 10 inches long and 1 to 3 inches wide arch from the center of a clump. Petite, fragrant, white flowers rise on long stems from the leaf clumps in spring, and orange-red berries appear later in the fall if different varieties are planted for cross-pollination. Don’t let the delicate appearance of lily of the valley’s bell-shaped flowers fool you. This is a hardy ground cover that spreads gradually but persistently to form dense colonies. Lily of the valley can be planted by root divisions, potted nursery plants, or seeds in the fall, though spring planting is also acceptable. It is considered invasive in much of the Midwest and Northeast, where planting it may be strongly discouraged or even outlawed. Be aware that lily of the valley is toxic to humans, as well as to dogs, cats, and horses.It contains glycosides and saponins that can cause cardiac symptoms as well as digestive upset if large quantities are eaten. Consumption of the berries by children is the most common cause of poisoning, and fatalities are possible.

Lily of the Valley Care Lily of the valley will grow vigorously in almost any spot with some shade. In fact, gardeners commonly use it under trees where many other plants won’t grow due to the shade. Plant the rhizomes about 6 inches apart with the growth buds buried about 1/2 inch deep.   This plant needs little attention to thrive once it’s established. It is a long-lived plant that doesn’t have any serious issues with pests or diseases. Plan to water during dry spells. Also, if flowering has decreased on older plants, it’s beneficial to dig them up and divide them to refresh their growth.

Warning

Lily of the valley reproduces by spreading rhizomes and you must carefully supervise it so it doesn’t escape its boundaries. Lily of the valley can quickly spread and overtake a large area and may end up choking out other plants in its vicinity. The European native is considered an invasive plant in many parts of the Midwest and Northeast, and in some places is even designated a noxious weed.

Light

Plant lily of the valley in partial sun to full shade. Direct morning sun is all right, but the plant needs protection from the harsh afternoon sun. And if you live in a warmer part of its growing zones, full shade is best.

Soil

Lily of the valley prefers organically rich soil with good drainage. But it can grow in a range of soil types, including clay soil. It likes an acidic to neutral soil pH but can tolerate slightly alkaline soil, too.

Water

This plant prefers consistently moist but not soggy soil. Water whenever the soil begins to dry out due to a lack of rainfall and/or hot weather. Soil that is too dry will impede the plant’s growth and flowering.

Temperature and Humidity

Lily of the valley prefers mild conditions with average humidity. Temperatures between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit are best. The plant doesn’t do well in dry, hot climates. And even in mild climates, it might die back during the hottest summer months. This usually won’t kill the plant; it generally returns the next spring.

Fertilizer

Lily of the valley typically doesn’t need any fertilizer unless you have poor soil. If your soil lacks nutrients, you can add a slow-release granular fertilizer in the spring. For the amount to use, follow the product label instructions.

Source: The Spruce

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CM!!!

Hope you, your lovely missus, and all the fur babies are doing well!

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Published by pat frederick

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169 thoughts on “Lily of the Valley”

  1. Good morning, Pat!

    Love Lilies of the Valley – They are the sweetest little bell shaped flowers. They don’t grow down here in the Tropic of Humidity – !

    The fragrance is lovely. There was a Lily of the Valley perfume – Muguet by Coty that I loved as a teenager. My latest discontinued perfume (original Galore by Germaine Monteil, then rebirthed by 5 Star fragrance company) has some Lily of the Valley notes. I’m so old that even the knock off of my perfume has been discontinued! Now it’s over $175. per bottle on eBay – no way am I going to buy any more. At my age, I’ll just be stingy with the little bit I have left. It’s not like I’m going to start dating again at my age. Snort!

    There’s a poem and song about Lilies of the Valley:

    Lily of the Valley illustration from the book Flower Fairies of the Garden

    Liked by 1 person

    2. Morning GA!
      thanks for sharing!
      I love chanel #5…and hubby buys me an expensive bottle every 3 or so years for a Christmas gift–and I make it last as well!

      Liked by 1 person

  4. TL Howard
    TL Howard
    May 10, 2023 10:25 am

    Imagine, you can accuse a rich man of attacking, raping you and not even have to identify for a CIVIL JURY WHEN the purported attack took place, not the time of day NOR THE DAY….NOR THE YEAR….got that? NOR THE YEAR. Imagine that. A woman who is attacked finds it so disturbing she neither reports it NOR know when it took place.

    Why would you do that? Well, number one, because the attack never took place, but the reason you’d not make up the day and the year is so that the accused cannot prove where he was at that time. It’s very likely a world traveler such as this billionaire would be able to show he was in another state, city, country, even.

    This is so sick we should re-name this country because it doesn’t deserve the name that recalls the integrity of two hundred plus years of heroes who believed in and fought for justice.

    Liked by 2 people

  5. DC_Draino
    @DC_Draino
    Did you know?

    The statue of limitations for sexual assault in NY is typically 5-7 years

    New York even has a 20 year period for civil claims of sexual assault

    But that wasn’t enough to get Trump – Jean Carroll’s claims go back to the mid 90s

    So NY amended the law in 2022 to provide unlimited statue of limitations for civil claims of sexual assault and provided a 1 year window where preexisting claims could be litigated

    That’s where Jean Carroll comes in

    Funded by a Democrat activist, she filed her claim against Trump in that limited window and even a liberal New York jury wouldn’t find Trump liable for rape

    People paying attention know what this truly is

    Another political attack to try and harm Trump before the 2024 election

    https://forbes.com/sites/douglasw

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Liked by 1 person

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    1. “We’ll have those niggers voting democrat for 200 years!”

      “These Negroes, they’re getting pretty uppity these days and that’s a problem for us since they’ve got something now they never had before, the political pull to back up their uppityness. Now we’ve got to do something about this, we’ve got to give them a little something, just enough to quiet them down, not enough to make a difference.”

      Lyndon B. Johnson

      Liked by 2 people

  11. NF: Not sure where this church is but it’s gorgeous!


    Oh, my!!! She never quits!!!

    EW.com – When Dolly Parton said she was going to “earn” her place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, doggone it, she meant it. Last year, despite her protestations, Parton was inducted into the Rock Hall, and, clad in leather, shredded some electric guitar to her original tune “Rockin’.” That song didn’t make the final cut of her upcoming album Rockstar — but 30 other tracks did.
    A mix of nine original songs and 21 bona fide rock classics, Parton’s Rockstar will ‘rock your fucking acrylic nails off’ when it’s released Nov. 17. It will be available as a four-LP set, a two-CD set, a digital download, and on all streaming services.

    Liked by 1 person

  12. “Doesn’t it strike you that every time you turn around it seems these people are fucking up somehow?”

    “They’re running away from Blue States in droves (whatever the fuck a drove is)…”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. well yeah…you used their tainted test, you got an infection, which you might presume to be cv…so you’re added to the numbers. then you don’t get better–cuz it’s an infection and you need antibiotics to recover so you think it’s long cv…

      my son (!) actually talked about this last weekend. when they were trying to buy a home, everything went FAST and ABOVE list price–bought by “real estate” companies to rent out (or so we thought). so the normal guys were outpriced in the market. now with prices falling because of inflation and no one can afford anything, the same companies are buying up properties at great prices…

      Liked by 1 person

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  14. Liked by 1 person

    1. Collin Rugg
      @CollinRugg
      BREAKING: Rep. James Comer reveals that the Biden family collected millions of dollars from foreign connections during his time as VP.

      “President Biden has claimed since the 2020 election that his family has not received money from China. That was a lie in 2020 — and he continues to lie to the American people now.”

      “The bank records show the Biden family, their associates, and their companies received over $10 million from foreign nationals and their companies.”

      – VP Biden and Hunter received over $1 million from a Romanian national during the Obama administration.

      – Comer found that $16 million in wire transfers were made over 6 months to five different banks held by Hunter.

      – Comer says that the FBI bribery allegations are consistent with his findings.

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Ya’ know, when I was trying some lasagna yesterday – meh, didn’t taste very good, unfortunately – I was craving a Stella but I’ve never tried Yuengling….I think I’ll give it a shot next time!

      Liked by 1 person

  18. Tom Fitton
    @TomFitton
    “Based on closed-door testimony and documents provided to the House Judiciary Committee, Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the report reveals new evidence suggesting that the public statement made by 51 former intelligence officials was part of a political operation to help elect Vice President Biden in the 2020 Presidential election. Exploiting the weight of their security clearances and credentials, these IC officials sought to create a talking point to boost their preferred presidential candidate, Joe Biden, but also undermined the duly elected President of the United States, Donald Trump. The report also shows that the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) Prepublication Classification Review Board (PCRB) reviewed and approved the statement prior to its release. Furthermore, written testimony provided to the Committee suggests that a CIA employee working at the PCRB may have shopped the letter to a former CIA officer who later agreed to add his name to the statement.”

    Like


  19. A Venezuelan migrant has been arrested 3 times since arriving in Chicago three weeks ago, prosecutors said Tuesday as he was accused of shoplifting clothes worth $725 from Macy’s

    But his bond court judge had another concern: “Who are these individuals?”https://t.co/1RfatEasf1

    — CWBChicago (@CWBChicago) May 10, 2023

    Liked by 1 person

  21. former (black) nfl player cuts to the heart of the black crisis
    FTA
    As we look at our real issues that we have as Black folks in America, particularly in California, you know, there’s one million Blacks in L.A. County alone. And in the last report that I read, 80% of those kids in school can’t read and write at proficiency level. So if you’re going to talk about reparations, let’s talk about reparations through education,” he said.

    “Let’s actually have reparations that are going to work for the people. I mean, you got a fatherlessness crisis going throughout the state where these Black kids are being raised in homes that don’t have any dads. And so those are our real issues. Our criminal justice issues, our educational issues. You talk about social justice, it’s not going to be completed by just handing out checks to people.”

    Brewer said whenever he voices his countervailing opinion, he is branded an “Uncle Tom.”

    “For that, I don’t care because, you know, our kids need spirituality again,” he said.

    “A God-fearing person would not sit up there and demand $4 million checks. A God-fearing person would demand for righteousness to be instilled back in the children,” Brewer added, pointing to troubling Black-on-Black violent crime rates nationwide.

    “You see how our little girls are dressing. You’re talking about sex trafficking at its highest levels we’ve ever had because there are no dads in the homes. Our kids aren’t going to church anymore. I mean, our communities are ravaged right now. And you’ve got a bunch of people standing up asking for million-dollar checks. It’s absolutely insane to me,” Brewer said.

    https://www.foxnews.com/media/former-nfl-player-jack-brewer-torches-californias-costly-reparations-push-absolutely-insane

    Liked by 1 person

  22. Well, AT&T/Hallmark once again decided to change their line-up so I can no longer record Doctor Quinn…..bastids! I lost Little House and then the Waltons and now….so I started watching Law & Order: SVU and I’ll start recording that instead…SMH

    Liked by 1 person

  23. LOL…adams in nyc intending to send more migrants to the suburbs. the suburbs fight back. hotels cannot house migrants for months–it violates their certificate of occupancy…bwahahahahahaha
    FTA
    On Sunday, Orangetown’s building inspector issued a Notice of Violation to a local hotel, The Armoni Inn and Suites, that appeared to be preparing “to turn the hotel essentially into a NYC-run shelter,” according to Kenny’s Facebook post.

    As New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced plans on Friday to bus over 300 willing migrants to local suburbs, leaders in Rockland County said hotels are “not equipped” to handle the sudden increase of migrants.

    “The intended use of the hotel by individuals for up to four months of extended, non-transient housing, including having non-hotel staff located on site, and with the provisions for a medical service provider specifically for these non-transient tenants, is not consistent with the definition of a ‘Hotel’ as set forth in the Town Code,” the violation stated. “Such proposed change in use and type of occupancy constitutes a violation of the Certificate of Occupancy authorizing the use of the property as a ‘Hotel.'”

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been bussing migrants to New York City since August of last year in an effort to relieve the state’s “overrun and overwhelmed border towns,” citing the city as “one of the few cities in America with right to housing laws” that “is required to provide emergency shelter for every unhoused person.”

    https://www.foxnews.com/media/notice-violation-sent-new-york-hotel-prepared-receive-influx-migrants

    Liked by 1 person


  25. “MTV News, which the seminal music video channel launched in the late 1980s, is no more. During yet another wave of devastating media and entertainment industry layoffs, 25 percent of the jobs across Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks will be slashed amid Showtime’s integration into Paramount. These layoffs come four months after Showtime laid off 120 employees during its merger with MTV Entertainment Studios. Five years after being significantly downsized, the news production division of MTV was shuttered as part of the cuts. “This is a tough yet important strategic realignment of our group,” Paramount division CEO Chris McCarthy said in a statement. “Through the elimination of some units and by streamlining others, we will be able to reduce costs and create a more effective approach to our business as we move forward.

    A number of MTV News staffers, meanwhile, took to social media to lament the loss of the cutting-edge news outlet. “Hi! This Friday, May 12 will be my last day at MTV News after eight years,” music editor Patrick Hosken tweeted. “Very open to writing/editing gigs, band bios, anything digital/social. Email is in bio!”

    Liked by 1 person

  28. hubby has given me a 45 minute window of when we’re leaving on a banana run…so I’m posting the prayer and ending memes now, cuz ya never know when he’ll be ready…lol
    I am adding a short daily prayer to the board. I would invite each of you, if you wish, to also add one or maybe two of your own liking. I do not want to stifle anyone but please limit yourself to one or two religious postings. here’s one I found that I liked.

    Liked by 1 person

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