On the first day of May, it is customary to present friends and loved ones with tiny bouquets of Lily-of-the-Valley. The flowers are symbols of good luck and mark the arrival of spring. And, I guess, a day off work.
At any rate, they are sort of the flower opposite of a riotous tree peony. For some reason these teeny, unassuming flowers take my breath away. Nature’s little pearls, with their sublime perfume and exquisite fragility – they do so deserve their own holiday.