Word-less Wednesday: Finding the right spot

Lily-of-the-Valley

Lily-of-the-Valley is one of those romantic plants that uniformly evokes, "Oooh!  Lily-of-the-Valley...I love Lily-of-the-Valley...I remember it from when I was a child!"  Which is why my mother has had it planted in her beds since 1991, redolent of her native Norway.  Perplexingly, it never once flowered.  Last  summer I was renovating the plantings and decided to give it one more chance.  The Kentucky soil has a basic pH already, but I moved it near the foundation on a small hunch-back slope and along the concrete driveway to ensure a higher number.  The nearby Hydrangea m. always tend toward pink.  I've seen it successfully blanketing slopes with a "hills-are-alive" charm--even in more acidic Georgia (don't go get your hopes up, Atlantans!)--so this seemed like a good idea.  Now they're flowering less than a year later--an elegant symbol of rebirth on my Easter visit.

Convallaria majalis: Lily of the Valley

Another moment at my parents':

2-year old Cotinus 'Grace' amidst Roses, Yucca a. 'Marginata', Tradescantia 'Sweet Kate', Physocarpus 'Diabolo' and Miscanthus 'Adagio'