Thanks everyone. It sounds like it should be treated a lot like the Lantana that I mentioned that I have at my old house. I'm not sure what variety it was, but that thing (actually several of them) was awesome. It grew big and full (probably nearly 5' across) with lots and lots of yellow blooms. In the winter, it would die to the ground leaving a nasty jungle torture device with lots of straight, pointy, woody twigs 3' long. In fact I just cut those back today to within a foot of the ground and the shoots were starting to appear at the ground. I'm sure, as always, they will grow back into beautiful, full plants in short order. That being said, I probably will cut these butterfly bushes back and see what I have there. Is it OK to go ahead and cut them back now? Thanks again for the advice!

Hi Q.... Well...I did look at your link and I see a photo that looks like one of my branches but other photos don't look like the shrub or the leaves. I am not sure if I have reddish pedicals, but I will give it a closer look. It has not flowered or produced fruit, so I can't say on that aspect. I see that there are some new hybrid cultivars coming out of the north, but I haven't been able to see a photo of them. I do have the other shrub that was labeled cornus racemosa and I will try to get a photo of it. It is planted in a dark corner and hasn't grown much. Soon the leaves will be turning and I will get photos of the difference in fall color. I imagine you are right that it is just a different version of cornus racemosa. At the very least I am almost 100% sure it is a cornus. If it was a cultivar of racemosa, it was not labeled as such. I am enjoying the shrub. It does very well in a very shady location with just a bit of morning sun. It grew faster than any other shrub in the garden and is attractive. If it flowered and had fruit, I would enjoy it even more. The one worry is with the suckering. I have an itea that gradually increased into a large mass but this one seems to be 'leaping' away from where it was planted. Pretty vigorous shrub. I was hoping to identify it so I could figure out how much of a problem that was going to be. Thanks or your help. I may ask over on the natives forum, whether someone has experience with the cornus racemosa. :-)

No, but I just joined a "plants idents" group on facebook and they are very knowledgable if you can't get an answer here.

I thought from the flowers that it might be some kind of sage. Do you think it might be Cherry Sage/Labiatae salvis greggii? Here's a pic. www.floridata.com/ref/S/salvia_gre.cfm. Good luck. Marric.