Buy and Grow Pink Lily of the Valley: A Perennial Spring Flower

Intro Image: Wikipedia Creative Commons
by Claudia Meydrech a/k/a happynutritionist
New on Wizzley May 2015 - Updated 4/25/19

I didn't have to go very far to find my "starter" plants, they were given to me by a neighbor who was re-doing her garden and had too many plants.

Imagine my disappointment when the transplanted Lily of the Valley bloomed, and the flowers were pink. I wanted white Lily of the Valley Flowers! I was so surprised to later find out that pink Lily of the Valley is rare compared to white. It was then that I began selling my extra plants each year on eBay, rather than pull up the excess and throw them away like weeds...oh my, what a terrible thought now that I know better!

I hope you enjoy learning a bit about Lily of the Valley and shopping for some plants, if you are in the market.

Each year, I have extra Pink Lily of the Valley plants for sale from sometime in May through early-to-mid-August, depending upon my supply.

• 1. My plants grow in rocky soil and tolerate dry spells very well

• 2. The plants make a wonderful ground cover

• 3. The leaves are green right through the spring, summer and part of the fall

• 4. The plants grow in the shade

• 5. They bloom in May where I live in the Northeast USA, only once a year, and the flowers last a week or two

• 6. The pink variety has slightly smaller flowers than the white

• 7. Both white and pink Lily of the Valley smell equally fragrant

• 8. The plant spreads by putting out runners underground from which new young shoots sprout, called pips, that become new plants

• 9. The plants will spread everywhere. I control the spread by selling the extras around the edges each Summer on eBay

• 10. I rarely feed the plants, maybe once or at most twice a season, but they really don't need much plant food if any.

You will find my auction listings by clicking

this link to claudias_corner_auctions.

Plants are usually available in the spring and summer (May - August) here in the Northeast, that is when I offer mine above, but other parts of the country may have them in season.

I usually ship the plants I sell in priority mail boxes that are the size that you would fit a book or the now almost obsolete VHS video tapes in. These are provided free by the post office...if your local post office doesn't have them, you can order them from usps.com by the box for free.

My simple method of packing is as follows:

1. After digging the plants, shake the excess dirt off the roots.

2. Taking about 5 plants at once, center the roots on a dry paper towel, then gently bring the paper up around the roots.

3. Dampen the paper towel and roots with just enough water so all water is absorbed to prevent leakage during shipping.

4. Put all into a sandwich bag, the kind that doesn't have a zip lock, so that the bag covers the roots and paper they have been wrapped in.

5. Using a rubber band, or a large twist-tie like those that come with trash bags, loosely close and "seal" the bag around the roots above the root "ball". You want to be careful not to damage the stems of the leaves.

Since I simply grow and don't ingest my garden plants, I didn't give this much thought.

But it is good to know if you have little children or pets that like to play near your gardens.