Remembering Lily of the Valley

On a rare recent trip to a shop I noticed lots of lily of The Valley in soap, talc, bath stuff. It looked so old fashioned but took me back. It did smell nice.

I tried to establish it in an area of my last garden but it didn’t thrive and eventually died out altogether. When we lived in Belgium, there was a large area of woodland behind our house and it was full of lily of the valley. The scent as you walked though was heavenly.

It’s not just the flower maydonoz all parts of the plant are poisonous flower leaf stalk and bulb and not just to dogs it’s very poisonous to humans if ingested

Lucyann Not just dogs
--Lily of the valley can be fatal if ingested, especially to children. The method of action is through cardiac glycosides, which create an effect much like exposure to that of Digitalis, found in foxglove. The plant is classified as a “1” on the poison scale, which means it has major toxicity that can lead to
death--

"Mugget of Boys" - Glorious!

Gwynonwen
Sounds pretty in Welsh downtoearth. I might have to adopt it for a new name!

Lily of the valley sounds like a visitor to the Argy...

Sorry for lowering the tone

I thought I'd look for a nice lily of the valley candle. Would you pay £50?

M&S do a v nice Lily of the Valley cologne.

One of my favourite scents. I had it in my bridal bouquet together with rosebuds and pinks.

One of my lovely Mum's favourite flowers

Probably my favourite flower because of its perfume with freesia coming a close second.
Thinking of during the summertime when some people were taken ill after eating asparagus, it dawned on me that the plant/veg is connected to the lily of the valley---or vice-versa so a probable contamination of the seeds.

Many lovely plants/flowers and parts of fruit and veg are poisonous which is a bit scary if you think too deeply about it, whether it's the leaves or stones of a fruit.

I ripped it up because it was rampant and was straying into our neighbour's garden but bits of it still appear.

I love lily of the valley, such a beautiful delicate perfume. Unfortunately my gardener who happens to be DH cannot stand the stuff.
Years ago I used to wear the perfume muguet des bois. One day I arrived at the office to be met by a stench. I asked the lady I worked with what it was, she told me 'I got your favourite perfume, Mugget of Boys" - she'd drenched herself in it. Kind of put me off wearing it again.

I adore lily of the valley but I simply can’t get it established in my garden it drives me mad!!

White and pink Lily of the valley are one of my favorite flowers and happy memories of childhood. There perfume fantastic. I love to pick a bunch for a table decoration. They grow in any type of soil from sandy to clay if planted only 1/8" deep and love dappled shade.
I like the way they travel around the garden. Old shoots do not re flower they send new shoots out each year.
Bigred18 look for Lily of the Valley in someone's garden and ask for a root. They can also be propagated by seed flowering in the 2nd year.

As for being poisonous to dogs most plants and bulbs are, so we wouldn't have gardens or take dogs into woods if they are not trained or on a lead and frightened of them being poisoned!
All lily, Oleander, rhubarb leaves, Hydrangea, Daffodils, Bluebells, Amaryllis, Ivy, apple seeds, Cyclamen, yew etc. can cause problems if eaten by dogs. As can chocolate! Check out www.dogstrust.org.uk/poisonous plants.

I also love this flower and it was part of my wedding bouquet forty three years ago. I also love the perfume and use it when I can but also didn't realise the flower was poisonous, we learn something new every day!

Interesting to hear that it’s poisonous, I didn’t know that. When we came to look at this house before we bought it, the communal area stretching the length of the street had lily of the valley all along it in the back border. It smelt divine and looked beautiful. By the time we moved in one of the bossier neighbours had grubbed it all up because it was “taking over”. I was upset at the time (as were others on the street) and we did try to grow it again recently without success, but it sounds like Bossy Boots did us a favour! I’ve had to issue dire warnings to the grandsons this year about the foxgloves, that’s enough to cope with!

Lily of the valley was my mothers favourite flower,sadly she isn`t with us anymore and she would always tell us not to touch it as it is poisonous.

Yes its a french tradition to give a small posy of Lily of the valley to friends and neighbours on May 1st. .
My mother also had it in her wedding bouquet.

I remember lily of the valley growing in a small bed under the front window when I was a child. It would sometimes disappear and appear in next door's garden then reappear in ours the following year.
Mum would pick it and we often had a small vase of it indoors. It does smell lovely.
I haven't managed to grow it in any of my own gardens.

Thank you for telling me it's poisonous, Bluebelle, I won't try growing it again as we have dog visitors..

Beautiful wedding bouquet.

I've always loved lily of the valley. It grew profusely in my granny's garden and is one of the scents of my childhood. I wanted to have it in my bridal bouquet but it doesn't grow in Kenya . I've tried to grow it in every garden I've had in England and it just doesn't like me. I thought it would flourish in my present garden, in a shaded spot, but still no luck. Help!

This is a plant that simply refuses to grow in our Clay type of soil, even after numerous efforts have been made to add various composts and grit to aid drainage. My late father could grow it easily under the shade of his fruit trees, but never in full Sun, and without any problem of it spreading like a weed!
In fact, it took almost 25years to grow a decent sized bed of the stuff!
Quite a few of the local Garden centres sell a range of natural floral fragrances and Toiletries Including Lily of the Valley in their gift shop. Bronley used to produce one, as did the National Trust gift shop, and English Lavender outlets.

Ellianne - crossed posts on similar theme!

My father gave my mother a bunch of lily of the valley every May 1st. I think this is a French tradition. The French for lily of the valley is muguet, which seems an ugly word for a beautiful flower and scent.

There was a Dior perfume I used for years that had that scent - either Miss Dior or Diorissimo, can’t remember now. Lovely.