By the time the merry month of May finally rolls around, spring flowers are peaking and filling the world with bright colors and sweet scents. One of the most beautiful, delicate and fragrant spring flowers?lily of the valley?is also the official birthday flower of May.
Lilly of the valley is one of the most delicate and beautiful members of the lily family and is also known as May lily, May bells, lily constancy, ladder-to-heaven, muguet (in France), and fairy ladders (in Ireland). Lily of the valley is a low-growing perennial plant that usually has two large oblong leaves and small, bell-shaped flowers that are wonderfully fragrant. In fact, it is the sweet fragrance and dainty white flowers that make lily of the valley wildly popular as wedding flowers.
Lily of the Valley in History
Lily of the valley was native to Europe and distributed to North America and Northern Asia. It prefers shade to sun and grows as a wild flower in England. According to legend, lily of the valley flowers sprouted up from Eve's tears after she was kicked out of the Garden of Eden.
Similarly, Christian legend tells of Mary's tears turning to lily of the valley when she cried at the cross. Because of this reference, the flowers were known as Mary's tears. Lily of the valley is also a symbol of humility in religious paintings and said to signify the second coming of Christ. The name "ladder to heaven" was given to the plant by medieval monks who saw observed the way the flowers grew evenly up the stalk and saw them as symbolic of steps to heaven.
Meaning and Symbolism
Lily of the valley has several meanings, including humility, chastity, sweetness and purity. In Victorian times, lily of the valley was a very popular gift flower, carrying with it the hidden message that "you have made my life complete." These days, the line has been shortened to "you complete me" with a nod to Tom Cruise and Renee Zellweger in the movie Jerry McGuire.
Lily of the valley is also symbolic of a return to happiness, borrowing from the legend of the affection between a lily of the valley and a nightingale that would not return to the woods until the flower bloomed in May. A similar legend says that the sweet, hypnotic fragrance of the lily of the valley entices nightingales to come out of hiding in bushes and hedges to choose their mates in open woodlands.
Fun Facts about Lily of the Valley
- Lily of the valley has been used in herbal medicine as a poison antidote, to treat epilepsy, to strengthen speech, and to enhance memory. That said, all parts of the plant are poisonous.
It is the may flower on May Day on the European continent, especially in France where it is sold on the streets on May 1.
- Lily of the valley became the national flower of Finland in 1967.
May is traditionally the month most associated with flowers, so it seems fitting that one of spring's loveliest and most fragrant blooms so sweetly represents May birthdays.