Lilly of the Vallies wont flower

Hi all

I planted some lilly of the valley in a shady area under an apple tree last year and the leaves came up but they didn't flower, I thought it must have been a dud batch of pips so this year I planted some more and the same thing happened, just one of the plants flowered. Does anyone know why this might be?

Thanks

 

Lily of the Valley bloom starting from the third year. If you look at the bulbs you should buy one with the apical part (gem?) well developed, which means that the bulb is older. It is a good idea to keep the plant in full shadow because originally they live in woods.

 

My mum has an old and established clump of these in her garden, they're not over-crowded or anything and they too have been reluctant to flower this year; perhaps it's something to do with the very dry year we've had???

 

mine have been good too, they are fickle and like to be well established before they perform

Loopy

 

Yep mum's got tons of these in the garden and they were heavenly this year

 

Sounds like my mum's done something wrong then ha ha....perhaps she's been singing the wrong songs when she's pottering around her garden...lol

 

Oh so there's still hope then, that's OK I can be patient. Although marley I have definiate lilly of the valley envey now. Thanks all

 

I found mine to be finicky, I had planted some which were ready to bloom and did so in their 1st year but then no more. 3 years later, I had 2 individual flower stalks and that's it.
I also used to live next to a wood where some lilies-of-the-vallies grew in their natural habitat, they'd have copious leaves every year but would only bloom some years, and by far not all of the plants at once.
Although in a wood I suppose they may well have been overcrowded?