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For years I could not figure out why my Lily-of-the-Valley plants never did well until I realized I was planting them in the wrong part of my garden. These are shade loving perennials that when planted in their proper environment will burst forth with myriads of tiny bell-shaped blossom complimented with brilliantly rich green leaves.
Besides being so easy on the eyes they have the ability to fill the late spring air with a wonderful, gentle and romantic fragrance. Even when the flowers leave, the foliage will grace your garden through out the summer into the fall. It will multiply to become a dense and carefree groundcover that excludes weeds and it took me a long time to figure that out.
When we built our B&B on the river in TN we had wonderful Rhododendrons that grew throughout the woods and there are now superb hardy ones that can be planted on the shady edges of your woods in glorious colors of yellow, white, pinks and purples if you live in zones 5 -8. These should be given a lot of space when planted because they usually grow about 5 feet high and 5 feet wide. They will reward you with years of pleasure.
Azaleas are another shade loving plant and were originally thought to be their own kind of species. Now they are classified as flowering shrub making up a part of the genus Rhododendrons. There are a few differences though and one of them is size. I have good luck with these shrubs and usually just buy the $2.98 kind in any garden center, plant them, giving them lots of space and let them rip. I do feed them good organic azalea food each early spring. I have not had any luck at all with the newer “Sun Loving” azaleas I put in last year. All 20 of them died from too much sun I guess even though they received plenty of water. So I guess I will stick with the shade loving one. Each spring I walk way around my house to enjoy their blossoms that come out all at once and last about a week. But they return every year. Fill up a great space and look lovely even when the blooms have fallen.
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Author Bio Box: Arlene Wright Correll
 For more gardening or cooking information click http://www.learn-america.com/
To see Arlene’s Gardens and to read her gardening diaries or click on Arlene’s Books where you can download or buy her gardening & cook books. Arlene says, “All my royalties from the sale of my books go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and I thank you for visiting my site.”
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