Birth flower for May
Lily of the valley is a woodland flower with a fragrance so coveted that perfumers have spent centuries trying to synthesize it. The natural scent is almost impossible to extract — it takes enormous quantities of flowers to produce even a small amount of essential oil — so most 'lily of the valley' fragrances are synthetic approximations. The flower is native to the cool forests of Europe and Asia, blooming in May with tiny, bell-shaped white flowers along a single arching stem. Despite its delicate appearance, every part of the plant is poisonous. It was the flower in Kate Middleton's wedding bouquet.
Why Lily of the Valley for May?
Lily of the valley became May's flower because it blooms almost exclusively in May in European forests. In France, May 1st is 'La Fete du Muguet,' when people give sprigs of lily of the valley for good luck — a tradition dating to 1561 when King Charles IX received the flowers as a gift and loved them so much he gave them to all the ladies of the court every May afterward.