Our little flowers...

...seem to be lilies of the valley, or May bells, aka Maiglöckchen in German. I really like these flowers and remember a hike in Polenztal a looooong time ago way back when my sister-in-law visited me here in Dresden where we went to view these pretty little flowers just as they were blooming. Then on a later trip to Polenztal to collect wild garlic (Bärlauch) I collected a bunch of poisonous May bell leaves, because they look just like wild garlic, but grow in a different formation. So we had to pitch our whole harvest! I am thrilled to have these flowers in our garden! And I will not eat them or their leaves. They are not quite blooming yet, but their little white buds are hanging down just like a May bell will!

I looked up lilies of the valley to be sure of the translation (we accidentally dug up the bulbs of these flowers in the fall and took them to Flower Steve to see if he knew what they were, he said "Maiglöckchen!") In that fantastic source of internet wisdom Wikipedia, it says lots of interesting things about the lily of the valley. It has lots of Christian connotations, springing up from Eve's tears after she was driven from the Garden of Eden, that naughty girl, or that Mary's tears at the Crucifixion turned into lilies of the valley. But my favorite, and the most fitting for my garden, is that supposedly in the language of flowers, these little guys mean "the return of happiness". What could be a more appropriate flower for us right now? Things are going great. Work is good, home is good, the kids are good, the bunnies are good. Even the garden is good! Now we just have to get the damn kitchen finished!