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Question: When is the best time to transplant lily-of-the-valley pips? We live in southeastern Kansas. AL, Kansas

Answer: Plants set four inches apart and two inches deep in February or early March and watered regularly will be a solid bed of strong, healthy plants in three years. Once established they may be left undisturbed for eight or ten years. Choose a time when the ground is in good shape for tilling and easily worked. Provided the soil is not too wet the earlier in the spring the pips are moved the better. Click here to read the Tale of the 5 Sisters – Lily of the Valley Flowers

Question: Please outline the outdoor culture of lilies-of-the-valley.

Answer: Lilies-of-the-valley, Convallarin majalis, are heavy feeders. They require liberal applications of fertilizer if they are to bloom well. After freezing weather comes, mulch the bed with three to six inches of well rotted manure. This serves both as a mulch and a fertilizer. If the planting is an old one, reset the pips or rhizomes in a new location. Use only the larger pips and discard all small ones. While full shade is suited to their growth, partial shade produces more and better bloom.

Question: How can I force lilies-of-the-valley indoors?

Answer: Buy specially prepared pips available in the fall. It is difficult and disappointing to try to force those growing in the garden. Space the roots one to two inches apart with the pips (buds) just above the surface. They can be potted in almost any growing medium, but a rich, loose soil is best. Water thoroughly and grow at 70 degrees. Keep in a dark place for about ten days, then gradually expose them to light. If all goes well they will bloom in about three weeks. When the blooms are gone, either plant in a shady place in the outdoor garden or discard.

Question: My lilies-of-the-valley always have big leaves, but the flowers are small and only a few to the stem. What can I do to make them big and healthy like the ones at the florist’s? HH., Illinois.

Answer: The lily-of-the-valley grown for the florist is from specially prepared pips and is forced in enclosed heated areas. The outdoor grown flowers cannot hope to equal the forced bloom. However, fine flowers are produced in the garden if the soil is fertile, rich in organic matter, abundantly supplied with moisture, and in a partially shaded location. Usually it is crowded clumps of plants that cause sparse and small blooms. When the clumps become crowded they should be lifted, divided and replanted, preferably in the fall.