In article ,
wrote:

What is your opinion of Lily of the Valley? A local garden center said it
was recommended that they not sell them as they are so invasive.

Thanks!

Several species of lily-of-the-valley, but Convallaria majalis in
particular, most certainly can be invasive in the larger environmental
sense, & it has been listed in many states as an aggressive alien species
of concern. That does not necessarily mean it takes over your garden. In
the garden if you ever decided to get rid of it you might find it a little
difficult not to have it return even after digging & digging to get it
out, but mainly it won't get out of hand unless you allow it to do so.
The problem is that it escapes from the garden to seeds into woodlands &
wetlands to threatens native plant species, as it has done in Wisconsin &
Michigan & several other states. If your local nurseries don't sell
non-native lilies of the valley, it's probably because of some regional
advisory warning against it, if not an outright regional ban. In the
garden per se, they're no more invasive than you allow them to be, but
they can seed into woodlands & wetlands & threaten native species. Some
cultivars are not at all invasive, such as the pink variety.

Find a native plant specialist & get a lily of the valley (or false
lily-of-the-valley) native to your region, they're just as nice. I've a
locally native variety which is itself aggressive in the garden, but I
have it "locked" between a concrete staircase & a sidewalk, where it
spread rapidly in deep dryish shade & looks very wonderful. And if it
seeds to the wild it won't matter because it is native anyway.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/