If you’ve ever walked through a garden in late spring and caught a scent so sweet it actually made you stop walking, you’ve probably met the flower of the month of May. Most people know it as Lily of the Valley. It’s dainty. It looks like tiny white bells hanging off a green stem. It’s also surprisingly intense for something that looks like it belongs on a Victorian lace doily. Honestly, it’s one of those plants that people either obsess over or accidentally kill because they don't realize how aggressive it can be in the right soil.
May is a weird month for gardening. You’re transitioning out of the "is it going to frost?" panic and into the "everything is growing too fast" phase. Lily of the Valley, or Convallaria majalis, fits this vibe perfectly. It’s delicate to look at, but it spreads via underground rhizomes—basically horizontal roots—that can take over a shady corner of your yard before you’ve even finished your morning coffee.
What Most People Get Wrong About Lily of the Valley
There is a massive misconception that these are "fussy" flowers. People see them in high-end wedding bouquets (Kate Middleton famously used them) and assume they require a team of British gardeners to keep alive. They don’t. In fact, in many parts of the northern United States and Europe, they’re borderline invasive. If you plant them in a spot they like—cool, damp, and shady—they will march across your lawn like a tiny, fragrant army.
Another thing: they aren't actually lilies. I know, the name is a total lie. Botanically speaking, they are part of the asparagus family (Asparagaceae). That’s right. Your beautiful May birth flower is a distant cousin to the vegetable you roast with lemon and garlic.
We also have to talk about the Hawthorne. While Lily of the Valley gets all the glory in the florist shop, the Hawthorne is technically the other flower of the month of May. It’s a tree, which makes it a bit of an outlier in the birth-month-flower world. While the Lily represents sweetness and humility, the Hawthorne is all about hope and protection. It’s the duality of May: one is a ground-creeping perfume bomb, and the other is a thorny, resilient shrub.
The Dark Side of the May Birth Flower
Here is the part where I have to be a bit of a buzzkill, but it's important. Lily of the Valley is incredibly toxic. Every single part of it—the bells, the leaves, the stems, and those little red berries that appear later—contains cardiac glycosides.
If you have a dog that eats everything or a toddler who thinks garden snacks are a good idea, you need to be careful. In the hit show Breaking Bad, this flower actually played a pretty major plot point for this exact reason. While it’s unlikely to cause a tragedy if you just touch it, you definitely shouldn't be garnishing any salads with it. It’s a plant that demands respect. It’s beautiful, it smells like heaven, but it has teeth.
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Why Perfumers Are Obsessed (and Frustrated)
If you’ve ever bought a "Lily of the Valley" candle or perfume, you’ve probably never actually smelled the real plant in that bottle. This is one of the great frustrations of the fragrance world. You can’t actually "extract" the scent from the flower in a way that stays true to its nature. It’s what's called a "silent flower."
Chemists have to recreate the smell using synthetic molecules like hydroxycitronellal. It was a massive breakthrough in the early 20th century. Edmond Roudnitska, one of the most famous perfumers in history, spent years trying to capture the exact smell of his garden in a bottle. He eventually created Diorissimo for Christian Dior in 1956. To this day, it’s considered the gold standard for what the flower of the month of May should smell like. It’s crisp. It’s green. It’s not that heavy, powdery floral scent you associate with your grandmother’s bathroom soap.
How to Actually Grow These Without Regret
If you’re thinking about planting these to celebrate a May birthday, or just because you like the look, don't just dig a hole and hope for the best.
Pick the right neighborhood. They love shade. If you put them in full, scorching afternoon sun, they will turn brown and crisp up faster than a piece of toast. Under a tree or on the north side of a house is perfect.
Soil matters. They want rich, leaf-moldy soil. Think "forest floor" vibes. If your dirt is like sun-baked clay, they’ll struggle.
Contain the beast. Because they spread through those underground rhizomes (pips), many gardeners prefer to plant them in a buried pot or a specific contained bed. Otherwise, they will jump over your mulch and start hanging out with your hostas.
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Be patient. Sometimes they don't bloom the first year you plant the pips. They’re busy establishing their root network. Once they feel settled, they’ll give you those white bells every May like clockwork.
The Folklore of the "May Bells"
In France, there is a tradition called La Fête du Muguet. It happens on May 1st. Everyone buys little sprigs of Lily of the Valley and gives them to friends and family for good luck. It’s a huge deal. You’ll see pop-up stalls on almost every street corner in Paris. It’s a custom that dates back to King Charles IX, who was given a sprig as a lucky charm in 1561 and decided to hand them out to the ladies of his court every year after that.
There's also some old Christian folklore that says these flowers grew from the tears shed by the Virgin Mary at the cross. Others say they grew from the blood of St. Leonard during his battle with a dragon. Whether you’re into the religious history or the "lucky charm" vibe, the flower of the month of May carries a lot of weight across different cultures.
Comparison: Lily of the Valley vs. Hawthorne
I mentioned the Hawthorne earlier, and it really deserves its own moment. While Lily of the Valley is the "indoor" choice for bouquets, the Hawthorne is the "outdoor" king of May.
- Lily of the Valley: Small, white, herbaceous, intensely fragrant, poisonous, likes shade.
- Hawthorne: Large shrub or tree, white or pink blossoms, thorny, fruit-bearing (haws), likes sun.
The Hawthorne is often called the "May-tree." In British folklore, it’s deeply tied to the "Green Man" and the start of summer. It was considered bad luck to bring Hawthorne into the house because the smell of some species’ blossoms is... well, it’s not sweet like the Lily. Some people think it smells like decaying meat, which led to old superstitions about it being the "scent of death." Quite the contrast to the "sweetness" of the Lily of the Valley, right?
Real-World Uses and Modern Significance
In 2026, we’re seeing a massive resurgence in "cottagecore" and "slow gardening." People are moving away from the perfect, manicured lawns and back toward plants that have character. The flower of the month of May fits this trend perfectly. It’s a "set it and forget it" plant for the lazy gardener who still wants a high-end aesthetic.
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Beyond just looking pretty, the Lily of the Valley is still a staple in the floral industry. However, because it's so seasonal—only blooming for a few weeks in May—it's incredibly expensive to source out of season. Florists often have to fly them in from specialized hothouses in Holland, which is why a wedding bouquet made entirely of these can cost more than the cake.
If you're buying them as a gift, look for "pips" rather than cut flowers. A cut stem of Lily of the Valley only lasts a few days in a vase. But a pot of pips can be planted in the garden after the blooms fade, giving the recipient a permanent reminder of their May birthday for years to come.
Actionable Tips for May Flower Success
If you want to make the most of May's floral bounty, here’s how to handle it like a pro:
- Harvesting for a vase: Cut the stems when the bottom two or three bells are open, but the top ones are still green buds. This gives you the longest vase life.
- Don't mix with other flowers: Lily of the Valley stems secrete a sap that can actually make other flowers wilt faster. Keep them in their own tiny bud vase. They look better that way anyway.
- Watch the berries: In late summer, the flowers turn into bright orange-red berries. They look like candy. They are not candy. If you have kids or pets, snip the flower stalks off after they bloom to prevent the berries from forming.
- Divide and conquer: Every 3 or 4 years, dig up a clump in the fall and move it. This keeps the patch from getting too crowded and helps you spread the May magic to other parts of your yard.
May is a bridge between the cold and the heat. The flowers of this month reflect that. They are tough enough to handle a surprise spring frost but delicate enough to define the elegance of the season. Whether you're leaning into the fragrant luxury of the Lily or the rugged protection of the Hawthorne, the flower of the month of May offers a depth that most modern, genetically-modified grocery store flowers just can't match.
Go find a patch of them this spring. Sit down on the grass. Get your nose close. Just don't eat them. Seriously.
To keep your May garden thriving, check your local soil pH. Lily of the Valley prefers slightly acidic to neutral soil (pH 6.0 to 7.0). If your soil is too alkaline, add some organic matter or leaf mold to help lower the pH and provide the nutrients these "bells" need to ring out next spring.