Lily of the valley
Convallaria majalis
A low, shade-loving rhizomatous perennial groundcover from Eurasia, grown for its sweetly fragrant, nodding, bell-shaped white flowers in late spring. NC State Extension describes paired basal elliptic leaves 5-10 inches long and arching racemes of small (about 1/3 inch) six-lobed white bells held 6-10 inches tall over the foliage. It is prized for carpeting shady ground and for its perfume, but it is HIGHLY TOXIC in all parts and its dense rhizomes can spread aggressively and choke out other plants — a beautiful but hazardous and potentially invasive groundcover that must be sited with care.
Climate fit: moderate (44/100)
Border
Filler
Light
Part shade / Part sun
Water
Consistent moisture
Mature size
6-10" tall · 6" apart
Hardy in zones
3a-7b
brutally cold to cold winters
AHS heat range
1-6
Plant range authored in AHS heat-zone terms.
Native in Illinois
No
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HIGHLY TOXIC in all parts — bark, flowers, fruits, leaves, roots, sap, stems, and seeds — owing to cardiac glycosides and saponins (NC State Extension).
Cold hardiness
These values are location-based: this location's current hardiness is the baseline, and the 2050 value is a projected future climate for this same location.
Now
Zone 6b
Plotwright
USDA Zone 6b
-5°F to 0°F
Well-suited
Zone 7a
Plotwright
0°F to 5°F
Well-suited
In plain terms: This location has cold winters. Its winters are projected to keep warming through 2050.
✓
Well-suited today and still thriving in 2050.
Heat tolerance
Heat tolerance values are location-based too: heat days today are observed at this site, and the 2050 value projects this same location under a future climate.
Loading AHS heat-zone data for this location...
Where this plant fits
Suitable across 34 ecoregions — 26 climate-resilient through 2070 · 8 suited today. Best matches first.
Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests
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Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests
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Arizona Mountains forests
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Blue Mountains forests
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Canadian Aspen forests and parklands
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Central Tallgrass prairie
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Central-Southern Cascades Forests
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Colorado Rockies forests
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Cross-Timbers savanna-woodland
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Eastern Canadian Forest-Boreal transition
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Similar plants
Browse lateral options with similar roles, light needs, size, or native-range overlap; these are not filtered for a better climate fit.
Viola sororia
Common blue violet
A low, clump-forming native woodland violet of eastern North America, grown for its early spring blue-to-purple flowers with conspicuous white throats held over glossy, heart-shaped leaves. It does not run, but self-seeds freely — to the point of being weedy in rich, moist ground. A larval host for fritillary butterflies and a nectar source for early bees and butterflies; the leaves are high in vitamins A and C.
Hosta plantaginea
Fragrant plantain lily
A shade-tolerant hosta with glossy foliage and fragrant white late-summer flowers for paths, containers, and woodland edges.
Viola × wittrockiana
Pansy
The classic cool-season bedding plant, grown for 2-4 inch flattened "face" flowers in nearly every color, usually marked with a contrasting dark blotch and central whiskering. A garden-origin hybrid (not a wild species) treated as a short-lived perennial run as a cool-weather annual or biennial — it blooms hardest in spring and fall and inevitably succumbs to summer heat. The Missouri Botanical Garden lists it as the top-selling winter bedding plant in the deep South.
Begonia (Semperflorens Group)
Wax begonia
A tender perennial grown almost everywhere as a warm-season bedding annual, prized for blooming reliably from June to frost in white, pink, red, and bicolor. Its thick, waxy dark-green-to-bronze leaves minimize water loss, giving it real tolerance for hot, humid summers. Compact and mounding at 6-12 inches, it is a workhorse edger and container filler in sun-dappled part shade.
Heuchera spp.
Coral bells
A genus of compact native foliage perennials (largely Heuchera villosa hybrids in the modern colored-leaf trade) for shade edges, containers, and color contrast near paths. The 'Marmalade' cultivar shown here is heat- and humidity-tolerant and deer-resistant.
Penstemon eatonii
Firecracker penstemon
A dry-country wildflower of the Intermountain West whose narrow, scarlet, tubular flowers line a slender stalk that rises about 3 feet above a low rosette of glaucous blue-green leaves. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center documents it blooming red from May into August on dry, gravelly soils, and it is one of the classic hummingbird-pollinated penstemons. Deeply drought-tolerant once established — best on lean, well-drained ground where it is not over-watered.
Sources & citations
Cite this page
For lesson plans, articles, or research that uses this page. To cite a single upstream fact instead, use its specific source listed below.
Plotwright. (2026, May 17). Lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis). Retrieved 2026, June 24, from https://plotwright.com/plants/convallaria-majalis
Sources for every fact
Every fact on this page traces to a source. 18 fields cited - 18 source-backed.
NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox
University extension service
Backs 17 fields
Identity
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