How to Plant the Lily of the Valley in the Spring
Lily of the valley is a plant with a long stem covered in fragrant bell shaped flowers. The most common color is white, but is also available in shades of light pink and yellow. Unlike most spring bulbs, lily of the valley also offers a fall show with colorful berries.
Spring planting of lily of the valley bulbs will lend a wonderful scent to the garden. What you will need are:
- Lily of the valley bulbs
- Trowel or bulb planter
- Sturdy gardening gloves
- Find a planting site. Lily of the valley requires soil with good drainage and partial shade. Though lily of the valley will do good in most soil types, it does not like to sit in wet soil.
- Soak bulbs in water for a couple of hours. This will reawaken the bulb so that when planted it will start rooting faster. Do not worry if the bulb swells or becomes hard, that is just indicating a readiness to root.
- Snip off about an inch of the root, if planting bulbs that have rooted or are being transferred from indoors. This also reawaken the roots to start taking in water. This will aid in quicker growth.
- Plant bulbs 1 ½ inches apart and deep enough that just the tip of the bulb is poking up out of the ground.
- Water the bed generously. Once sprouted water when needed.
Lily of the valley is a fabulous bulb for flower bed edges or even alone as ground cover. As the years pass lily of the valley will grow in denser as the bulbs multiply and may eventually need thinning or dividing.