Lily of the valley - do they die down in winter?

It does disappear in winter Babe. Unfortunately it is not always good at coming back but you won't know until spring.

John.

Try telling mine it won't come back! It's rampant. I also give it a mulch of garden compost each spring but no other feed

Send some here Andrew please.

I had to ask Andrew what the shoots looked like to see if my new ones were going to re-appear last spring! The good news is - they did... now I'm hoping that they will spread under the tree where I've got them.

Maybe I ought to dig it up if it's going to get rampant!

I planted it because it is a shady area and I have put in lots of woodland plants; everything else (all bought mail order) is doing fine.

No no Babe.Don't dig it up UNLESS it gets rampant. Andrew's went mad, mine never came back (twice). Strange plant. But beautiful.

John.

and me too please Andrew, i have planted it many times and never had much luck. would gladly swap you with something! and yes Babe, would be a mistake to get rid of it, if you hit lucky i am sure you could make some money out of your local florist, this is one very desirable particully for spring weddings, and has a retail value of approx £6-8 per tiny bunch! -which is one of the many reasons why i have been trying to grow it for many years! lol

My mother-in-law was from Belgium and she had a HUGE patch in her garden. Every May 1st she used to go round giving out bunches of them. As she has passed on now, I would love for my daughter to carry on the tradition.

Good idea Babe, i am sure your friends and neighbours would appreciate it, they have a wonderful scent don't they.

I put some in a shadey area near some trees and shrubs 14yrs ago , they have started to spread a little bit , as yet I have never had enough to pick a bunch , I so love the smell and can,t wait to pick bunches .

Having said that they are at the entance to a hideout in the bushes which the grandchildren always head straight for when they are down at xmas , do you think the buds are already forming and get trampled on or are they well below the surface at that time

That MIGHT be a factor, Amy, as their feet may scuffle the growing points... or make a hard area of soil where they find it not to their liking? I would have thought that the rhizomes would still be OK under the ground, though. Do any come through in that area?

They don't always get masses of flowers anyway, hense so expensive to buy as cut flowers. but what you do get are well worth while in my opinion.

They do come through Spritz but quite patchy with only the odd flower !