Ricky?................ Gervais?

;^)

Probably a slip of the fingertip, Anchorman. Pat's previous question asks about rocky soil. I'd answer it, but my advice might not be good, since my limited experience with lilacs and rocky soil occured 30+ years ago in northern Arizona! Then and there, we used Creeping Mahonia (Mahonia repens), Dwarf Goldenrod (Solidago hybrids), and Dwarf Red Hot Poker (Kniphofia hybrids).

under mine I have Lamiums, Pachysandra, Symphandra x iran, Heuchera, Tellima grandiflora and a fern. In the spring there are a variety of bulbs; snowdrops, crocus, Anenome blanda followed by red campion and lily of the valley.
my soil is chalky but over the years i have dug in plenty of compost to 'bulk it up'

Thanks guys, yes I did mean rocky, lol. I have some lily of the valley in a pot which doesn't look very happy, so I'll try moving them to the lilac base and also I have a collection of heucheras so can divide those in the Autumn and put some under the tree too. Thanks for the feedback, Pat.

Just remember that Lily of the Valley can become invasive! : O

If only! I have tried several timesto grow lily of the vally but with no success. Uere's hoping!

I have the same problem with lily of the valley not thriving. so unfair.

Too true, unfair! From what I hear, it is a positive weed anywhere in the States that the winters are consistently below -7º C. I'll have to check data for the Pacific Northwest, though--maybe it's just the wet cold that it dislikes.