Lily of the valley is my little flower,
It smells very much like perfume,
Its flowers are tiny,
Like bells and beads,
They ring and sway in the wind,
They hide in the broad leaves.
In May, lilies of the valley bloomed:
This is another flower from my childhood.
In my grandmother's garden, there were white lilacs and a buldenezh tree nearby, and beneath them, a thicket of lilies of the valley. I loved to play in the shade of the lilacs, spreading a blanket on the grass, making myself a playhouse, picking a bouquet of tiny flowers and placing it in a glass. I loved the scent of lilies of the valley.
When we bought our dacha and discovered a white lilac tree and a Viburnum buldenezh bush, I immediately planted lilies of the valley underneath them. I don't have a thicket like my grandmother's, and the blooms aren't as lush, but every May, the lilies of the valley bring me great joy.
Lily of the valley is very aggressive; it can take over a territory in a flash and crowd out nearby plants. I keep it from spreading too far, constantly digging up excess seedlings. I've surrounded the area where the lily of the valley grows with stones.
All parts of the plant are poisonous. I remember this from childhood; my grandmother always reminded me that flowers can be poisonous, especially the red berries that form after lilies of the valley bloom.
I usually cut off the flower stalks as soon as the blooming season ends, as the neighbors' little ones often come to our dacha. However, the bushes with red berries look very decorative against the broad green leaves.
If you want to grow lilies of the valley in your garden, plant them separately from other flowers, perhaps under trees. This easy-to-grow perennial is a beautiful, fragrant flower that's frost-hardy, grows well in shade, and enjoys ample watering.
By the way, lily of the valley is an endangered species and is listed in the Red Book.