May Birth Flowers: Lily of the Valley and Hawthorn

• Despite its name, it is not a true lily.
• King Charles IX of France was given it for luck on May Day in the 1500s, and the French still give it on May 1.
• It was in the wedding bouquets of Princess Diana and Kate Middleton, and it is the national flower of Finland.

Lily of the valley is sold as small cut bunches, as potted plants, and as rhizomes called pips for forcing. University of Connecticut Extension lists it among plants you can force to bloom indoors in winter. The stems are tiny and intensely fragrant, so it suits small posies and nosegays. Keep cut stems cool and out of direct sun.

As a garden plant, lily of the valley is a perennial ground cover that spreads aggressively in the right conditions.

Hawthorn is rarely sold as a cut flower in the US. It is usually bought as a small tree, such as Washington hawthorn or 'Winter King' green hawthorn, which resists rust better. Its white spring flowers have an unpleasant scent, so think twice before a vase indoors. Branches can be forced to bloom inside in late winter: soak them overnight, recut the stems diagonally and stand them in warm water.

Hawthorns grow as small, dense trees or shrubs that can reach 30 feet.

Lily of the valley is poisonous: never eat any part of it. In dogs, cats and horses it affects the heart, the ASPCA warns, and can cause vomiting, an irregular heartbeat and seizures. Hawthorn is on the ASPCA's non-toxic list, though its thorns can scratch noses and paws.

A young hawthorn or a pot of lily of the valley can start a garden of family birth flowers, and the family bouquet builder names what to plant for everyone else. Emerald, the May birthstone, has a page of its own. Families with several spring birthdays can print them on one year-at-a-glance sheet from the Birthday Calendar.