About Lily of the Valley
Lily of the valley is small, white, extraordinarily scented and, for a few weeks a year, one of the most expensive flowers per stem that a florist can sell. It carried Kate Middleton's wedding bouquet and Grace Kelly's before that, which is roughly its position in the trade: tiny, understated and deeply luxurious.
It is also the most poisonous flower in general sale. Every part contains cardiac glycosides that affect the heart, and that is worth stating plainly before anything else.
Primary Meanings
- Return of Happiness: The best-known meaning, from its spring arrival
- Humility: From the downturned bells and modest size
- Purity: Why it is the traditional bridal flower
- Good Luck: In France, given on 1 May as muguet
Lily of the Valley Colors and Their Meanings
White Lily of the Valley
Purity; effectively the only form sold
Pink Lily of the Valley
Rosea, a rare garden variety
Popular Lily of the Valley Types
Convallaria majalis
The standard species, and what you will be buying
Rosea
A soft pink form, seen in gardens rather than shops
Bordeaux
Larger bells on stronger stems, bred for cutting
Albostriata
Cream-striped foliage, grown for leaves as much as flowers
Care Instructions
Wash Your Hands
Every part is poisonous, including the vase water.
Shallow Cold Water
Fine stems, and they prefer to be kept cold.
Cool Room
Warmth halves an already short life.
Never Reuse the Vase Water
The water itself becomes toxic. Pour it away carefully.
Best Occasions for Lily of the Valley
- Weddings: The traditional royal and bridal flower
- May Birthdays: The birth flower for the month
- 1 May in France: Muguet is given for luck; a nationwide custom
- 2nd Anniversary: The traditional flower for the milestone
Interesting Lily of the Valley Facts
- It is the birth flower for May and the flower of a second anniversary
- Every part is poisonous, and so is the water it has stood in
- The scent has never been captured properly; every perfume version is synthetic
- It carried both Grace Kelly's and Kate Middleton's wedding bouquets
- In France, sprigs are sold on the street on 1 May as a good luck charm
How to Buy Good Lily of the Valley
You are buying stems, not bunches, and often literally counting them. Look for spikes with most bells still closed and only the lowest two or three open, since they open fast and the scent is strongest as they do. The bells should be pure white with no translucent or brown edges. Leaves are usually sold separately or wrapped around the stems, and they should be firm and deep green. Because it is expensive, ask when it came in: a florist who cannot tell you is not handling enough of it.
Season, Availability and What Drives the Price
Late April into May is the true season and it is short. Some forced stems appear around Christmas at even higher prices. It cannot be produced at volume year-round, and the crop is fiddly and labour-intensive, which is the honest reason a handful of stems costs what a large bunch of most other flowers does. Wedding demand in May collides directly with the natural season, which is exactly why it is so expensive at the moment everyone wants it.
What to Use Instead
For the scent at a similar delicacy, freesia and sweet peas are the closest and both cost a fraction as much. For the look of small white bells on an arching stem, solomon's seal gives the same shape at a larger scale, and stephanotis provides small waxy white flowers for bridal work. Bouvardia is the practical florist substitute in white. Nothing reproduces the scent, which has never been successfully extracted and is synthetic in every perfume that claims it.
Safety Around Pets and Skin
This is the most poisonous flower in ordinary sale and it deserves a direct warning. Every part contains cardiac glycosides, chiefly convallatoxin, which act on the heart in the same way as digitalis. Ingestion causes vomiting, abdominal pain, confusion, a slowed or irregular heartbeat, and in serious cases cardiac arrest. It is dangerous to cats, dogs, children and adults alike, and crucially **the water it has stood in is also toxic**. Wash your hands after handling, never leave it where a pet drinks from vases, and pour the water away rather than tipping it into a houseplant.
Florist Tips for Lily of the Valley
Pour the vase water down the drain
The water absorbs the glycosides. Do not tip it into a plant pot, a garden or anywhere an animal might drink, and rinse the vase properly afterwards.
Buy it in bud
It opens quickly and the scent peaks as it does. Stems bought mostly closed give you the fragrance for days rather than hours.
Keep it cold
It is one of the few flowers that genuinely benefits from being put somewhere cold overnight, which noticeably extends a short vase life.
Common Questions About Lily of the Valley
How poisonous is lily of the valley?
Seriously poisonous. All parts contain cardiac glycosides that affect heart rhythm, and the vase water becomes toxic too. It is dangerous to people, cats and dogs. Handle it, wash your hands, and keep it and its water away from children and pets.
Why is lily of the valley so expensive?
A short natural season, a fiddly labour-intensive crop, and peak wedding demand landing in exactly the same weeks. It is sold by the stem rather than the bunch for that reason.
Is it really a lily?
No. Despite the name it is not a lily and is not related to the true lilies that are fatal to cats. It is in the asparagus family. It is dangerous in its own right, but for entirely different reasons.