Lily of the valley plants produces a delicate, fragrant flower that is unmistakable and a great addition to the garden (provided you manage to keep their spread in check). What kind of selection is out there? There’s a lot more to lily of the valley than just its sweet scent. Keep reading to learn more about the different lily of the valley plant types.
Common Types of Lily of the Valley
Common lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis) has dark green leaves, tops out at about 10 inches (25 cm.) in height, and produces small, extremely fragrant, white flowers. As long as it’s contained from taking over the garden, you can’t go wrong with this variety. There are, however, a large number of interesting cultivars that set themselves apart.
Other Kinds of Lily of the Valley Plants
Lily of the valley doesn’t necessarily mean white flowers anymore. There are many lily of the valley varieties that produce pink blooms. “Rosea” is a cultivar of the plant that has flowers with a pink tinge to them. The amount and depth of the pink can vary from specimen to specimen.
Another way to introduce more color to your lily of the valley patch is to choose a variety with variegated leaves. “Albomarginata” has white edges, while “Albostriata” has white stripes that fade somewhat to green as the summer wears on.
Yellow and bright light green striping can be found in varieties like “Aureovariegata,” “Hardwick Hall,” and “Crema da Mint.” “Fernwood’s Golden Slippers” emerges with all over yellow foliage that never quite fades to green.
Some more interesting kinds of lily of the valley varieties are grown for their size. “Bordeaux” and “Flore Pleno” will grow to a foot (31 cm.) tall. “Fortin Giant” can reach all the way to 18 inches (46 cm.) in height. “Flore Pleno,” as well as being tall, produces large double flowers. “Dorien” also has larger than normal flowers.
