lilies of the valley

[redbird]

I am stressed because of [redacted], and feeling creaky, but cattitude and I just went for a walk, and there are lilies of the valley in bloom a couple of blocks from my apartment.

They're in a sloped yard behind a retaining wall, which puts some of the flowers at or near my nose level, so much easier for me to enjoy. Many years, I crouch or even lie down next to lilies of the valley growing on flatter streets, which would have been a bad idea right now.

Clarification, since someone was confused by my description: these are the usual small lilies of the valley. It's the ground they're growing in that was at about my chin height, in a sloped yard next to the sidewalk. It's a hilly neighborhood.

Comments

[readerjane]

I love lilies of the valley too. They’ve bloomed in several places which have been special to me in the past, so their fragrance brings back good memories. Can’t have them in the house because cats, but I love when I encounter them in the wild.

[snippy]

They were my mother's favorite flower, and after she died I kept a bouquet of them at my desk for a few weeks.

[redbird]

I love them, but I'm not risking them on the table where one of our cats might get at them, because the flowers are poisonous and Kaja likes to chew on cut flowers, and eat them if they're small enough (radish flowers, rather than zinnias). I have a vase that was my mother's, that I think of as the lily of the valley vase because it's too small to hold much else. (Mom is fine, she gave me and my brother a bunch of things including vases and dishes when she moved to England.)

[snippy]

So glad you can enjoy them in other people's yards and protect your pets.

[kate_schaefer]

Our temporary house has no lilies of the valley, so Glenn picks some from our actual yard every few days and brings them home for my nose.

We've been gradually planting more scented flowers closer to nose-level every year. We lean heavily on hyacinth for this purpose.

[bibliofile]

Another fan of lillies of the valley here. Yay for another sign of spring.