Saint-Philbert-de-Grand-Lieu (France) (AFP)

"The lily of the valley is beautiful, of a good quality, but it will stay in the field", laments Philippe Naulleau, a market gardener who will harvest this year only part of the symbolic bells of Labor Day, for lack of sufficient orders to the approach of May 1 confined.

"It's a catastrophic season compared to thrush, that's obvious", continues the producer from Saint-Philbert-de-Grand-Lieu (Loire-Atlantique), who supervises a team of around thirty seasonal workers encouraged to use a bottle of hydro-alcoholic gel enthroned on a crate next to the greenhouses.

Lily of the valley represents between 20 and 30 million euros of turnover per year, according to the federation of market gardeners from Nantes which brings together producers located on the outskirts of Nantes, where more than 80% of the lily of the valley sold in France grows.

With containment, the issue is obviously sales since large and medium-sized stores, which usually sell half of the production, are for the moment the only sellers of thrush authorized to open.

"We, today, we needed answers, lily of the valley is good to pick up", insists Philippe Naulleau who started his harvest on Tuesday and regrets that the government has not yet decided on the requests made by the sector concerning non-conforming sales outlets.

Because under the Nantes sun, nature does not wait. The good weather has advanced picking, making the logistics even more complex around the little white sprigs that are only popular for one day a year.

The vagaries of the weather and the fact that it is necessary to anticipate the packaging and transport to be ready on D-day make the current week crucial.

- "Poker move" -

"I'm playing the poker game," sums up Éric Harrouet, explaining spending 25,000 euros in wages for each day he hires his 300 pickers.

He therefore cannot afford to pick up lily of the valley which he will not sell. And if the State decides late to allow, for example, florists to sell lily of the valley in front of bakeries, the deadlines will then be too short to cut, package and transport the delicate bouquets known to bring good luck.

At the federation of market gardeners in Nantes, it is estimated that more than 70% of the 60 million sprigs of lily of the valley usually sold will be lost this year.

"All the work that has been done throughout the year for thrush will not be remunerated", assures Philippe Naulleau who asks his pickers, equipped with disposable sky blue gloves, to select only the best strands since decided to pick up only 15% of her thrush.

Seasonal workers therefore leave behind rows still in full bloom, whose characteristic scent will not delight the nostrils of the French and their French-speaking neighbors who continue each spring a tradition dating back to King Charles IX.

"There will be no May 1 this year, there will be no parade, there will be no party, there will be no lily of the valley", sadly lists Antoine Thiberge, director of the federation Nantes market gardeners who still hoped a few weeks ago that lily of the valley would mark the moment when France would have found "the pleasure of meeting friends, neighbors and going out on the street".

Near Nantes, fifteen market gardeners cultivate lily of the valley, the rest of the production being located in Bordeaux, where the climate is also favorable.

Producers of lily of the valley also grow all vegetables, which means that the crisis "should not put the farm at risk," said Philippe Nolleau.

However, the losses will be significant and "on the scale of an agricultural enterprise, it's colossal," insists Mr. Thiberge.

© 2020 AFP