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Consider native spring bloomers like Starry Solomon’s Seal that benefit native butterflies and insects, unlike European lily-of-the-valley, which outcompetes native plants and limits the food available for pollinating insects and wildlife.
In the spring, many neighbourhood gardens are bursting with displays of beautiful wildflowers. One very popular choice for a late-spring flower is the European lily-of-the-valley, long prized for its beautiful white bell-shaped flowers and sweet fragrance. However, many people do not realize that lily-of-the-valley is invasive, and that it can escape the garden into nearby natural areas, displacing native species.
Why Lily-of-the-Valley Gets the Thumbs Down
Although it has a long history of medicinal and cultural use, lily-of-the-valley is also highly toxic to both pets, wildlife, and humans. It spreads slowly though its underground rhizomes, forming dense colonies that are very difficult to remove once established. Plants can be transported to new areas both through improper disposal of plant parts into natural areas, or by birds that eat the seeds. Through rhizome or seed spread these plants often escape from gardens into urban parks, ravines, and natural woodlands, where they have a range of negative impacts, including:
- 👎🏼Displacing native plants in woodlands, particularly spring wildflowers such as trilliums, bloodroot, and Canada Mayflower. Lily-of-the-Valley threatens the beautiful display of native spring wildflowers in forests.
- 👎🏼Reduces plant species diversity, which can impact wildlife that rely on a variety of native species for food and shelter.
- 👎🏼Alters the structure and function of habitat.
How it got here:
- European Lily-of-the-Valley is native to Eurasia and was introduced to North America sometime before 1829, likely due to its popularity and long history of cultivation in Europe. It is found in gardens throughout North America and still widely available in nurseries and garden centres.
Why it’s such a good invader:
- It is able to form dense mats of vegetation, spreading by underground rhizomes and seeds.
- It can tolerate a wide variety of soil and light conditions, which makes it highly adaptable to many different habitats. As it tends to prefer shaded areas with some light penetration, it can thrive in natural woodlands where it can form dense colonies and crowd out native species.
- Due to its versatility, Lily-of-the-Valley is very difficult to control once established.
How to remove it:
It is difficult to remove Lily-of-the-Valley once established because the rhizomes can break easily and it may re-sprout from even a small leftover fragment. It is best to use a spade and dig deep enough to remove all the rhizomes. Persistent digging and pulling over several seasons will eventually deplete carbohydrate reserves. Alternatively, place a black plastic tarp over small infestations in the spring, and leave for at least a season, to prevent the plant from photosynthesizing.
Improper disposal of garden waste is a common pathway of spread:
One of the major pathways of spread for invasive garden plants is through the improper disposal of garden waste. When people pile brush and dump their garden waste into natural areas, this provides ample opportunity for invasives to spread. It is important not to dispose of Lily-of-the-Valley in brush piles if it contains reproductive parts like roots and seeds, as these can easily spread into natural areas. Instead of backyard composting, a better approach is to solarize the material by placing plant material containing rhizomes, fruits/seeds in tightly sealed black plastic bags, and then leaving them in the sunlight for at least one week. This treatment will cook the rhizomes and seeds, rendering them unviable. The bag can then be disposed of in regular landfill.
Why Starry Solomon’s Seal Gets the Thumbs Up
Starry Solomon’s Seal (Maianthemum stellatum) is a native, non-invasive alternative to Lily-of-the-Valley:
- 👍🏼In the spring, it has attractive white, star-shaped flowers in terminal clusters, followed by distinct green-and-black striped berries. The stems are smooth with leaves in a zigzag arrangement along the stem. Leaves are lance-shaped and clasp the stem.
- 👍🏼It readily forms small colonies and works well as a ground cover. It is attractive in the fall when the leaves turn yellow and berries ripen to a deep red.
- 👍🏼The flowers attract sweat bees (including green metallic bees), flower flies, and some parasitic flies (i.e., tachinid flies), and berries are eaten by songbirds and mice.
Where to plant it:
This native species is a versatile plant and relatively easy to grow. It will adapt to a variety of growing conditions, from full sun to full shade, and a variety of soil types. Its natural habitat is moist woods, thickets, meadows and savannas.
Where to buy it:
The North American Native Plant Society (NANPS) offers a list of commercial growers.
Why Native Plants?
Not all flowers are created equal. Native plants provide habitat and food for a whole ecosystem of wildlife, from butterflies and native bees, to birds and mammals. Non-native plants, which may look the same to the untrained eye, take up space and resources but create a wildlife desert. Some non-native species are also invasive, which means that their introduction or spread negatively impacts native biodiversity, as well as the economy and society, including human health.
The horticultural and nursery trades are one of the primary pathways for invasive species introductions. While many horticultural plants are harmless garden additions, some can escape cultivation into natural areas and negatively impact biological diversity. Several invasive groundcovers like goutweed are still widely available for sale in garden centres and nurseries. You can take a proactive approach by not buying invasive plants and choosing non-invasive alternatives instead.
The Grow Me Instead (GMI) Guide
To help gardeners make informed decisions about the plants they are buying for their gardens, the Ontario Invasive Plant Council (OIPC) developed the Grow Me Instead (GMI) guide. The GMI guide is a practical and easy to use guide that informs gardeners about the invasive tendencies of common garden plants and suggests appropriate non-invasive alternatives. It provides tips for ecologically sound gardening and choosing plant species that will benefit local populations of insects and other wildlife. The Ontario Grow Me Instead guide is available on the Ontario Invasive Plant Council (OIPC) website to download. Want more? This is the third in our series showcasing native plants to choose for your landscaping, rather than invasive species. Read about Zigzag Goldenrod, which is a good groundcover alternative to invasive Goutweed.
