There is plenty of lily of the valley in bloom as well, a plant that does remarkably well in all this shade and sand. I used to think I would prefer gardening in sandy soil after dealing with my hardpan clay soil at home. No more. This sand just does not hold the moisture and provides no nutrients to the plants. I can amend my clay soil with compost and it makes a huge difference. But this sand needs more than I can ever give it. Whatever I do it never seems enough.
We also have a wild version of lily of the valley in bloom. Many wildflowers seem to like this sandy soil under the shade just fine. Wild columbine, goldenrod, roses, fleabane, silverweed, goatsbeard and black-eyed susans bloom at different times of the year here with no help at all from this gardener. I have added tansy and artemesia (which are in pots in the ground at home since they can be so invasive) and they do fine without being contained in my mother's garden. And my mother’s myrtle is a wonderful replacement for grass in this area where grass does not do its best due to the shade.
Gardening is a balm for the soul. My mother and father are 84 and 89 respectively. Both of them suffer from health problems in this twilight time of their lives. These two smart, vibrant, wonderful people are in many ways more my children than my parents now. So I exercise with them the same thing I exercise in the garden. Patience. Lots of it. Things don’t always turn out the way you want them to, but sometimes something wonderful occurs. And the something wonderful in my life is having two good parents who are still with me when so many of their generation have passed on. Life starts with a simple seed and then blooms into beauty, fading eventually before dying. In that dying the soil is nurtured, that good earth, to begin life anew. So when I die, throw my on the compost heap to nurture future generations of life. All of it!
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