Private: Lily of the Valley: Tiny Flowers in Retrospect

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Lily of the valley. Rosendahl's photo.

Depending on who's talking and what they're talking about, lily of the valley is a woodland flower that likes shade, a 19th century hymn, a French novel, or something else.1

I'm not going to be talking about hymns or novels. Not today, anyway.

There's a whole mess of symbolism hanging around these little white flowers, too. Mostly involving humility, happiness and good stuff like that. Which strikes me as odd, since the wildflowers are distinctly poisonous.2 On the other hand, they do — I gather — smell nice.

I'm not going to talk about that, either. Mostly because the lily of the valley's sprays of tiny white flowers are, for me, symbolic of a house I grew up in. Along with a rhubarb patch. And clothes lines. Among other things....

More at A Catholic Citizen in America.

(Remembering little bell-shaped flowers that grew near my childhood home. Learning why they are undesirable, but keeping the delightful memory anyway.)

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