About
This perennial plant reaches a height of up to 25 cm and can create large colonies. It produces upright clusters of nodding, bell-shaped white flowers that emit a pleasant fragrance, emerging alongside the paired, elliptical leaves.
About the genus
Convallaria consists of rhizomatous perennial plants characterized by their elliptic to narrowly ovate foliage. These plants produce arching racemes that bear small, fragrant, bell-shaped flowers, which are succeeded by clusters of red berries.
Growing conditions
- Sunlight
- Full shade, Partial shade
- Soil type
- Clay, Loam
- Soil pH
- Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
- Soil moisture
- Moist but well-drained, Poorly-drained
- Aspect
- West-facing, East-facing, North-facing
- Exposure
- Sheltered
- UK hardiness
- H7
Plant details
- Plant type
- Herbaceous Perennial
- Habit
- Matforming
- Foliage
- Deciduous
- Height
- 0.1-0.5 metres
- Spread
- 0.1-0.5 metres
- Time to full height
- 2-5 years
- Suggested uses
- Cottage and informal garden
- Native to
- Europe to Caucasus
- Fragrance
- Flower
- Toxicity
- TOXIC if eaten. Wear gloves and other protective equipment when handling TOXIC to pets - see the HTA guide to potentially harmful plants for further information and useful contact numbers
Care notes
- Cultivation
- Grow in a fertile, humus-rich moist soil in full or partial shade. Top dress with leaf mould in autumn.
- Pruning
- No pruning required
- Propagation
- Propagate by seed sown in containers in a cold frame as soon as ripe (remove flesh from seed prior to sowing) or propagate by division in autumn
- Pest resistance
- May be susceptible to swift moth caterpillar
- Disease resistance
- May be susceptible to grey moulds and leaf spots