{"id":9825,"date":"2026-01-10T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T00:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/?p=9825"},"modified":"2026-02-10T16:37:49","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T16:37:49","slug":"lily-of-the-valley-tiny-flowers-in-retrospect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/lily-of-the-valley-tiny-flowers-in-retrospect\/","title":{"rendered":"Lily of the Valley: Tiny Flowers in Retrospect"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Rosendahl's<\/a>
Lily of the valley. Rosendahl’s photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Depending on who’s talking and what they’re talking about, lily of the valley is a woodland flower that likes shade, a 19th century hymn, a French novel, or something else.1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m not going to be talking about hymns or novels. Not today, anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s a whole mess of symbolism hanging around these little white flowers, too. Mostly involving humility, happiness and good stuff like that. Which strikes me as odd, since the wildflowers are distinctly poisonous.2<\/a><\/sup> On the other hand, they do \u2014 I gather \u2014 smell nice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m not going to talk about that, either. Mostly because the lily of the valley’s sprays of tiny white flowers are, for me, symbolic of a house I grew up in. Along with a rhubarb patch. And clothes lines. Among other things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Wildflower, Weed: Take Your Pick<\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"Anonymous<\/a>
My folks had a car not unlike this one.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The first house I remember living in, 818, had room on its north side for a driveway, with about a foot left over next to the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although my parents weren’t particularly enthusiastic gardeners, that foot-wide patch of dirt sported a lush green cover and lovely little white flowers every year. I liked the green, and I really liked those tiny white bells. I remember asking my folks about them, and learning that they’re ‘weeds’. Or not particularly desirable, at any rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why they were undesirable, that’s something I wasn’t told.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>A Weed by Any Other Name Would Still Look Nice<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Violmsyan's<\/a>
Lily of the valley in Yerevan, Armenia. Violmsyan’s photo. (May 10, 2020)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That remained one of many puzzles from my formative years: until I looked up lily of the valley, week before last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some tightly-wound resources identified lily of the valley as an invasive species. Which, technically, I suppose it is. Although it’s not even close to being in the kudzu class.3<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Convallaria majalis, that’s lily of the valley’s binomial\/Linnaean\/Latin moniker, is supposed to be in Europe and parts of Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Illustration<\/a>
Convallaria majalis, illustration from “K\u00f6hler’s Medizinal-Pflanzen”, Franz Eugen K\u00f6hler (1897).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Time was when we had, officially, varieties of Convallaria majalis:<\/p>\n\n\n\n