Yup thats it, thank you! That page describes it so well. "can form impenetrable thickets", lol..that was the back 1/3 of my yard! Thank you! Daniella

My try: 1. Paeonia Lutea 2. English Laurel

What time of year is it ok to trim them up? I know doing anything serious stresses a plant, esp in the heat of summer. I would have to really do some serious trimming to bring them back to a shrub shape. I figured the GA heat would be too much for them if I did it now. Yes/no? Do I do a little bit at a time? My spouse wants to rip them out of the ground they are so unsightly, but I'm going for the calmer approach. I keep saying... "Hey they are about the only thing that survived from the original landscaping". (BTW the "Landscaper" did EVERYTHING wrong. He prepared all the beds by laying landscape cloth over the clay the builder left when they raised the lot and then threw 2 inches of top soil down over the landscape cloth. Topped it all off with about 1/4 inch of pine straw and called it done. Dung a hole the size of the plant's pot dropped it in the clay hole and turned on a sprinkler. WOW! And people wonder why the only beds doing well are the ones we made and redid!) Thanks again!

Definitely a zinnia.