2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Lily of the valley (lat. Convallaria) - flower culture, perennial plant of the Asparagus family. There is one single species - May Lily of the Valley (lat. Convallaria majalis), which is subdivided into three subspecies. In nature, lily of the valley is found in deciduous, pine and mixed forests, on the edges and clearings in Europe, the Caucasus, Asia Minor, China and North America. In Russia, lilies of the valley are more common in the Far East, Siberia and the entire European part.
Characteristics of culture
Lily of the valley is a herbaceous plant with a creeping underground rhizome bearing several lower leaves half-open in the ground. The roots of the plant are very small, fibrous, and numerous. Basal leaves are whole, pointed, rather large, oblong-elliptical or broadly lanceolate. A large bud is located between the basal leaves.
The flowering stem protrudes from the corner of the lower leaves and bears a raceme consisting of 6-20 flowers facing one side. The inflorescence is drooping, has a pleasant pronounced aroma. The flowers are small, bell-shaped, most often white. The fruit is a spherical berry, orange in color, reaches 6-8 mm in diameter, contains 1-2 seeds. Lilies of the valley bloom from May to June, and bear fruit in June-July.
Growing conditions
Lily of the valley prefers completely shaded or semi-shaded areas, sheltered from the northerly piercing winds. The culture treats lowlands with stagnation of cold air negatively, evenly, as well as direct sunlight. Lilies of the valley are demanding for soil conditions; they grow well only on deeply cultivated, fertile, rich in minerals, moderately moist and drained soils with a neutral pH level.
Reproduction and planting
Lilies of the valley are propagated by seeds and segments of rhizomes. The seed method is used extremely rarely. Sowing is carried out either in early spring or in autumn under a shelter in the form of a thick layer of peat or sawdust. Plants are propagated by segments of rhizomes in August, although to a greater extent the timing depends on the climatic zone, as soon as the leaves begin to turn yellow, they begin to divide. The planting sprout should consist of a piece of rhizome with roots and one or two apical buds. The segments are planted in the ground, carefully dug up and fertilized in advance.
Care
Even a novice florist can take care of lilies of the valley. It consists in the standard procedures for all flower crops, or rather, in watering, weeding, fertilizing and loosening. Organic matter is introduced in the first year after rooting of young plants, and fertilizing with mineral fertilizers is carried out only the next year.
Watering is carried out moderate and regular, the soil in a flower bed with lilies of the valley should always be moist, but not damp, this is important. Waterlogging has an extremely negative effect on the root system of plants. Lilies of the valley are frost-resistant plants; they do not require shelter for the winter. In one place, the culture can grow up to 10 years, after which the plants are transplanted.
It should be remembered that lilies of the valley are aggressive invading plants. In a year they give a root growth of 15 to 25 cm. With proper care and favorable growing conditions, lilies of the valley form a fairly large flowering meadow, and the plants continue to occupy new territory. In order to prevent this from happening, the thickets of lilies of the valley are thinned out once every 2-3 years. In addition, this procedure promotes profuse flowering.
Application
Lilies of the valley are early flowering plants that are highly decorative. They are used in flower beds of various types in combination with other spring crops. At first glance, lilies of the valley seem so fragile and tender, but in fact, the plant is hardy and keeps germinating in water for a long time. That is why lilies of the valley are often used to decorate living quarters. The only drawback of this plant is that the strong aroma of flowers, as a rule, causes headaches, in order to avoid this, the premises are regularly ventilated.
Lily of the valley is also known as a forcing plant. For forcing, the rhizomes of the culture are dug out of the soil in autumn and stored in boxes with sand or peat in a cool room until December, after which they are planted in pots filled with a light nutritious substrate. Containers with plantings are transferred to a room with an air temperature of 20-24C and watered abundantly. After about a month, sprouts appear, and in February the plants bloom. Lilies of the valley are often used in folk medicine. It turns out that a tincture of leaves, stems and flowers of plants helps to strengthen the cardiovascular system.
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May Lily Of The Valley
May lily of the valley is one of the plants of the family called liliaceae, in Latin the name of this plant will sound as follows: Convallaria majalis L. As for the name of the family of lily of the valley itself, in Latin it will be like this:
Lily Of The Valley Keiske
Lily of the valley Keiske, or Lily of the valley Far East is a perennial herb of the monocotyledonous class, belonging to the genus Lily of the valley from the Asparagus family. In Latin, the name of the plant in question will sound like this:
Forcing Lilies Of The Valley At Home
Probably, everyone in childhood read the famous fairy tale "Twelve Months", in which the little princess demanded lilies of the valley in winter. But even in a cold cold and snowfall, it is not difficult to make a fairy tale come true. Imagine how pleasant it is to admire when lilies of the valley bloom in your apartment on New Year's Eve or in early spring. Every gardener can feel like a wizard, for this you need to prepare the rhizomes of the lily of the valley in advance and save them until the time you need
Silver Lily Of The Valley Bells
Lily of the valley feels great in the shade of trees, welcoming the warmth of May with its elliptical leaves and silvery-white clusters-inflorescences. Indeed, only a single species is grown in culture - May lily of the valley, which has many forms and varieties. The scent of lily of the valley works wonders with a person, making him more confident, more persistent, increasing his creativity and putting his thoughts in order
Lilies Of The Valley For The New Year
To achieve flowering lilies of the valley for the New Year, in September, you need to take care of the preparation of planting material for distillation. Lilies of the valley from the forest are of little use for this. But if your flowers in the next three years were grown as a garden culture in nutritious sandy-clay soil and the plants formed thick flower sprouts with blunt tops, you can already achieve the formation of buds from them in winter in room conditions
