Fragile, dressed in soft white and sometimes pale pink petals, lilies of the valley intoxicate everyone with their drunken aroma. Rare of their kind, they are listed in the Red Book.
Beautiful lilies of the valley become a kind of muse for florists, inspire artists to create still lifes, and photographers for a new type of photography - professional photography of flowers. Their name is given to perfumes, pets, household appliances, cafes and restaurants.
Photos of lilies of the valley, roses and daffodils in shop windows are especially popular. flower shops. Widely used in perfumery.
They are also popularly known as: konvaliya, May and field lilies, mayweed, cherry.
The plants owe their name to the works of the outstanding botanist Carl Linnaeus. The literal translation of the flower is “lily growing in the valley.”
There are several possible origins. According to one of them, the name is borrowed from the Polish word “lanuszka” due to the similarity of the leaves with the ends of the ears of a wild deer. In other words, these are combinations of two words “incense” and “breathe” because of the pungent and fragrant aroma.
Lily of the valley - forest perennial, which grows in the Northern Hemisphere. Most often found in cool or damp places.
Walking through the forest, you can sometimes come across entire clearings of lily of the valley leaves, but the bells themselves are not visible. The whole reason is that the maximum life span of the rhizome is up to 21 years.
The first flowering occurs at 7-8 years, at 10-12 years they lose this opportunity. New dark green leaves are formed every spring, the ability to bloom appears after 2-3 years.
The powerful smell and pollen attract bees and bumblebees. The fruit of the flower is a round orange or red berry. The plant itself is poisonous, but is widely used in modern medicine. It has been used for a long time.
Cultivation and propagation of lily of the valley should be done very carefully, observing the usual safety measures.
Taking medications based on medicinal flower only after consulting a doctor and strictly observing the dosage of use.
A bouquet of lilies of the valley should not be kept in a small, cramped and indoors. Especially in the bedroom or room small child. Fans of this plant often need to ventilate the room. Due to the strong aroma, you can simply get poisoned.
If you notice the first symptoms, immediately seek help medical care, as the consequence may be fatal.
Before the doctors arrive:
The smell of the forest dweller is fresh, with a tart aftertaste, with a barely noticeable note of tenderness. Pairs well with jasmine, lily and wild roses.
It is easy to find in the forest because of its strong aroma; it usually grows in groups or entire clearings.
Lily of the valley adapts well to any weather conditions. But it does not tolerate drafts and direct sunlight.
It is very easy to plant a flower at home. Planting lilies of the valley can be done using their own berries or by dividing the rhizome. The artificial breeding of new varieties is actively used.
The downside is low frost resistance and late flowering. In the first case, after 6 years, in the second, after 3 years.
The best time for planting is mid-autumn. The soil is prepared in advance; fertilizers can be used. Each housewife plants in her own way, but in general terms, each flower should be planted at a distance of 10-15 cm, 15 cm deep into the ground and sprinkled with 1-2 cm of light soil.
Water thoroughly room temperature. In winter, cover with any materials to maintain warmth. Planting can also be done in the spring, but such a flower will be painful and will not bloom this season.
They don't need any care. You just need to maintain moisture, remove weeds and loosen the soil around from time to time.
Lilies of the valley are very aggressive plants; in the overall bouquet they crowd out and lead to rapid withering and death of other flowers.
Delicate lilies of the valley have long been considered a symbol of spring. In May, wonderful flowers appear in the forests, reminiscent of scatterings of snow-white pearls - lilies of the valley. They grow on the edges of mixed forests, forming entire carpets of thickets. They are not only perfect in their beauty, but also have a dizzying aroma of spring.
This beautiful May flower has managed to win the hearts of many peoples, thanks to its bells with the most delicate aroma. The wide green leaves resemble deer ears and this is probably where its name “lily of the valley” comes from. This is translated from the Old Polish language as the ear of a deer. Read about it here.
It is also believed that the name comes from the church incense incense. When burned, it releases an aroma reminiscent of lily of the valley.
This is perennial herbaceous plant, which reproduces using roots. Its roots are not thick and creeping. The leaves, two in number, grow from a basal rosette and are shaped like a deer’s ear. Between them there is a bud from which a sprout grows and bells are formed, and then berries.
The stems are erect and die back in early summer as soon as the flowers stop blooming. On one stem there are an average of 14 bells with a delicate aroma. The color of the bells changes from white to pale Pink colour. Lilies of the valley are very strong flowers that easily conquer new shady areas. Temperature changes are not scary for him. The flowering stem itself is leafless. - all the most interesting things are here.
Lily of the valley blooms in May and continues to delight the world about a month. After flowering, small red berries appear on the stem, which serve as a treat for birds living in the neighborhood. The fruit is a round red berry with a diameter of about 7 mm, filled with round seeds.
In flower beds, a carpet of lily of the valley leaves looks wonderful, but when this carpet is covered with white flowers, it seems that fairies live in some of the bluebells.
Exist different kinds lilies of the valley growing within Russia:
All this diversity is vigorously used in medicine. Lily of the valley quickly spread throughout Europe and won the hearts of people so much that people not only collected bouquets, but also used it in the treatment of heart and other diseases. Deforestation also led to the disappearance of flowers, but the flower does not grow in the bright sun.
Lilies of the valley began to disappear from the surrounding forests, and were soon listed in the Red Book. There is a belief that if you pick one flower from a common flowering carpet, then after some time all the others will disappear.
In order not to pick lily of the valley flowers in the forest every year, people began to grow them in their flower beds. After all, this does not require any main move; the main thing is not to dig up this area. The whole secret is to choose a suitable area in the flower garden.
The best place is in the shade of trees with slightly moist soil. Pledge long flowering lilies of the valley are coolness and shade.
In a couple of years, the roots will spread so much that this place will no longer be enough for the flowers, and it will lay claim to a new territory.
The plant lives in one place for about 10 years, so you need to prepare a post rich in organic matter. To do this, you need to fertilize with already rotted manure and dig the flowerbed to a depth of 25 cm in such good conditions the plant will live for a very long time. After which, the planting of rhizomes will need to be renewed so as not to lose the flower. Soil preparation should be carried out a year before transplanting lily of the valley rhizomes. See how to do it here.
It is best to plant in September or April so that it takes root well. It is not advisable to replant in the summer, since it may die during the heat. After planting, the rhizome must be watered intensively until the plant takes root.
There are two options for propagating lily of the valley:
The second way to grow is faster and more convenient. To do this, the rhizome is dug up and cut into pieces about 10 cm long. The main thing is that there is a growth bud on this segment. Place the cut pieces of rhizomes into pre-dug grooves to a depth of about 3 cm and cover with earth without trampling it.
Do not plant the sprouts too close to each other at the very beginning, because due to their density, gray rot can affect the new shoots.
When propagated by seeds, sprouts will appear only in the second year if the seeds are not collected by birds or mice. It will be tightly pulled leaves and no flowering. In the second spring the rhizome will grow and only in the third year flowers will appear.
Caring for lilies of the valley is quite simple. In the summer heat, they are watered, preventing the soil from drying out. The plant is frost-resistant and therefore should not be covered additionally. It goes well in flower beds with lungwort and ferns.
Lily of the valley can be affected by fungal diseases. It can also be susceptible to nematodes and sawflies. Remove diseased plants from the flowerbed and burn them on your own site. Treat the remaining plants with special preparations sold in garden centers.
Lily of the valley is also known as a forcing plant. In order to drive out the plant, in September the rhizomes are dug up and stored in a box and covered with peat. It should be stored in a cool place at a temperature from -3 to +5 degrees.
At the beginning of December they are planted in boxes or pots in pre-prepared loose, fertile land. The bowls with planted rhizomes are placed in a room with a temperature of up to 24 degrees Celsius and watered a little. A month later, the lily of the valley begins to sprout, and already in February it begins to bloom. Read about it here.
Since the times of Copernicus, lily of the valley has been considered an excellent medicinal plant, and thanks to this it has become a symbol of healing.
Do not forget that lilies of the valley are a medicinal plant that helps people get rid of diseases such as:
For people with diseases of the stomach, kidneys and liver, extracts from this medicinal plant cannot be accepted. For them, it will be tantamount to taking poison. After all beautiful flower with an unforgettable aroma it can be poisonous to humans. Therefore, under no circumstances should you make decoctions without a doctor’s prescription.
If you need to collect this plant, then you cannot do it within the city limits. Since due to gasoline vapors and other chemical substances the plant will not be suitable for use in medicinal purposes. Therefore, these plants are collected in forests far from megacities.
This plant is harvested during flowering, cutting it off near the rhizome with scissors so as not to damage it. Everything is collected for medicinal purposes: leaves, flowers, and berries. All this is collected in May, early summer, while the lilies of the valley are blooming and the leaves are in their sap.
Drying is done in the shade with good ventilation. Drying is also carried out in special drying cabinets, where the temperature is set to 60 degrees. Medicines can also be prepared from only picked lily of the valley flowers.
Lily of the valley tincture
Fill any container three-quarters full with picked flowers and add 90% alcohol. All this is infused in a dark, cool place for 3 weeks. Take 20 drops five times a day.
Tincture of dried lily of the valley flowers
1 tbsp. dried flowers pour 200 g. boiling water, wrap it up and let it brew for half an hour. Take one tablespoon every 2 hours. This drug is great for conjunctivitis.
For heart rhythm disturbances
Mix 10 ml valerian, 10 ml lily of the valley tincture, 5 ml hawthorn extract. and menthol 0.05 ml. apply 25 drops three times a day.
Pharmacies also sell drugs made using lily of the valley:
But we must remember that lily of the valley is poisonous and its overdose threatens poisoning. And when using medications, you must strictly adhere to the recommendations given by your doctor.
Toning face mask
Grind 2 tablespoons of red berries, add one yolk. Apply the resulting mask to your face, after 15 minutes you will need to wash it off warm water and wipe with a warm cloth soaked in milk. By making masks weekly, after a month and a half, fine wrinkles will smooth out and your complexion will noticeably improve.
In order to enjoy lilies of the valley and take a break from daily difficulties, it is not necessary to go to the forest and pick flowers, disturbing their ideal clearings. It is better to plant them in your flower garden and admire this miracle of nature every year.
With the help of a bouquet of these flowers, you can always confess your pure love for a person, and it would be good to do this on May 1, because in France on this day they celebrate the day of lily of the valley and spring.
How to pick lilies of the valley and keep the bouquet fresh?
Everyone agrees that lilies of the valley are the most fragrant spring flowers. They are listed in the Red Book. But, to be honest, finding yourself in the May forest, hardly anyone can resist picking a bouquet.
As experts say, damage to lilies of the valley can only be caused by improper collection of the flower itself. To prevent the plant from dying, you should carefully pull out the flower itself without leaves from its middle and try not to damage the rhizome. Much more harmful to the spread of this plant, unique in its beauty and aroma, are rough forest clearings, tractor tracks and unharvested branches.
Lily of the valley tends to grow quickly, and those gardeners who plan to grow it need to remember this. Within a few years, the plant can fill a significant part of the garden. Nowadays, the cultivation of double and pink lilies of the valley has become widespread among gardeners. But most plant connoisseurs prefer the pure, white, porcelain color. Read about it here.
You should know that lily of the valley fruits, which appear at the end of summer, are very poisonous. They look attractive, so it is necessary to warn children about the dangers of consuming them.
A bouquet of lilies of the valley usually fades quickly. In order for it to last as long as possible, it is advisable to fill the flowers with unsettled tap water, as is usually advised, but river or lake. You can throw a pinch into the water citric acid. The leaves should not be torn, as this spoils the plant; in addition, in a bouquet they quickly wither, turn yellow and rot.
