Here are some ideas for companion planting with your Lily of the Valley: Add hardy geranium 'Roxanne' to the site for summer color and foliage, does best in some sun or if the bed is shaded use ajuga as a companion groundcover. I have also had luck mixing pachysandra with lily of the valley although over time I see that the stronger, evergreen pachysandra is taking over the lily of the valley and smothering any new plants. In all cases you should no longer need to cut back the lily of the valley after it blooms as the groundcover will hide the browning foliage. There is also a shrub called lily of the valley but it is actually a Pieris japonica—just so readers understand the lily of the valley we are discussing here is a low growing groundcover with fragrant white blooms in the spring. Keep growing, Marianne Binetti