Each Little World: Lilies of a different stripe

I don't do seeds. Or at least very few — mostly those that can sow themselves directly into the soil. To create the space for a seed-starting set-up would mean giving up space currently devoted to something else. The only place where that might be possible is the room in the basement that we call the "dry media" room.

That's where we have two drawing tables and two huge flat files filled with artwork on paper as well as drawing paper ready to be used. There's a light table for viewing slides and 7,000+ slides all in archival boxes, cross-referenced so I can easily find what I need for a talk or article. There's even a closet with all of the Christmas decorations stored in boxes stacked to the ceiling. The one thing you don't want to do in a dry art storage/work environment is introduce the kind of humidity that's ideal for starting seeds. It's fatal for art.

KLEHM SONG SPARROW

Convallaria majalis 'Hardwick Hall'

And so I buy plants that someone else has started. We have an array of local independent nurseries, but I also try to support my favorite independent mail order nurseries, too. They often have unique items that they've bred as well as plants that reflect a personal passion — like peonies at Klehm's Song Sparrow Nursery, a multi-generational family operation in southern Wisconsin.

So, even though I am on a much tighter budget this Spring than in other years, I am still going to order a few things by mail. But only plants that strenghten a plan that's already in progress. One of those plants is lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis). A garden classic, it can be a thug or an absolute workhorse in the right spot. Mine are under spruce trees in dry shade which keeps them under control.

MARK GOLBACH

Convallaria majalis, an unnamed yellow striped variety from Seneca Hill Perennials

I didn't really get interested in this fairly common plant until I discovered the variety that's historically been grown at Hardwick Hall — home of the famed Bess, Countess of Shrewsbury, the second most powerful and wealthy woman in Elizabethan England. I've never been to Hardwick but I'm a big fan of Bess. So Hardwick's my top destinations as a gardener, needlewoman, feminist, and history and architecture buff. Did I forget anything?

Until I can get there in person, I'm growing the Hardwick lily. Convallaria majalis 'Hardwick Hall' is nine inches tall with extra wide leaves that are margined in pale green for a lovely contrast with the darker middle. I've found that the leaves hold the lighter colored edge for most of the season.

Klehm's carries four varieties of lily of the valley, including 'Hardwick,' compared to seven at Seneca Hill where I bought one with yellow striping on the leaves. It is a stunning foliage plant — especially if you put it where it will be backlit in the early morning or evening. Nothing equals the light coming through those striped leaves. If it never flowered, I wouldn't mind.

MARK GOLBACH

Convallaria majalis, a yellow striped variety from Seneca Hill Perennials

I am so thrilled with this plant that I'm thinking of adding Seneca Hill's unnamed 16-inch-tall cutting strain to my planting. They also have one called "Fernwood's Golden Slippers," whose leaves are much more yellow than the typical strain. But the one I've been thinking about for the last couple of years isn't available this spring. I hesitated and lost — at least until 2010. "Cream da Mint" is the one I'm willing to wait for. It's a tongue-in-cheek title for a plant whose foot tall glaucous leaves are edged in cream. A real beauty.

So, while you are starting seeds, I'll be doing my own spring ritual: shopping on-line. I hope that adding these more unusual varieties of lily of the valley will elevate what would otherwise be a utilitarian patch of groundcover into something new and noteworthy.