An Argument for Lenten Rose

I have a LOT of lenten rose planted in the perennial bed on the north side of our house. I love it because it stays green all year. It does well in dry shade–not many things do. It does well in part sun/part shade too. And the flowers (once seed pods have formed) are just great for cut flowers.

Here’s the garden on the north side of the house. (We ended up pulling out all the oak leaf hydrangeas because they weren’t behaving very well.)

And here’s an arrangement that I made with lenten rose and about $12 worth of grocery store flowers–quite an impact for a small investment.

What do you have in your garden that you could use similarly?