Actually, that does sound like pokeweed, if the berries turn dark purple, almost black, then that's probably what you got. If they stain your hand a magenta pink color, that's pokeweed berries. You should check out the book by Euell Gibbons "Stalking the wild asparagus", he's got a few recipes for poke in the early stages of its growth.

Hi: I've not been impressed with the look of viburnums in online pics; might have to rethink them. I have thought about evergreen Rhododendrons and might use some. Our soil pH is fairly close to neutral, as I recall. I don't want to completely hide the fence; that type of fence needs patching up from time to time, and I'm pretty good-sized; trying to crawl through a dense hedge would be a but much. I don't mind seeing some fence here and there; the shrubs through break it up & distract the eye from it. We have a septic tank & leach field the side of which extends out maybe to that last Euonymus bush (and then runs across the yard, not long-ways); I don't want things that get way high, since I figure their rooting systems will be more elaborate. Since the fence is about 5'4" tall, a shrub or small tree needing be very tall, and since many shrubs are about as wide as tall, I'm leery of getting big stuff. Basically, I like planting shrubs 2 or 3 feet from the fence; I don't want to have to plant 5 or 6' out from the fence, and take up a lot of yard space. The shrub row will also look strange if some shrubs are 4 - 6' tall, and a couple are 20' holly trees, for example. Hence my preference for a pyramidal short holly, rather than a round bush (plus I like the pyramidal look better). The Emerald Green Arborvitae get 12 - 14' tall, they say, but are there for a reason; kind of like I'm holding my hand up to block the view of that dog kennel. Richard.

You might also want to look into other ways to add winter interest, such as more plants that have some winter color like the coralbark maple, to sort of echo that color elsewhere. Hollies with their red berries, either evergreen or deciduous (like winterberry, Ilex verticillata) or a rose with nice hips might add interest. If you had an evergreen behind the hydrangea, the tan dried flowers which won't show up against the fence will also add a decorative element for the winter against the dark green. (I have a H. paniculata in front of a rhododendron - quite nice.) Another possibility would be to add a pretty dark-colored or brightly painted trellis with something like clematis that will be cut back in the cold weather to give you a nice silhouette against the fence. [When you live in an area where the growing season is significantly shorter than the rest of the year, winter interest becomes really important . . . ;>) ]

It's hard to ID red HTs for a few reasons: 1) they tend to be bred toward a standard, and so will tend to look rather similar when from a particular era; 2) red roses are notoriously difficult to capture accurately with digital cameras, especially on cell-phones; 3) one of the ways to help narrow it down is by fragrance, which can be less strong in new plants and is subject to personal interpretation. I, too, have a thing for the fragrant dark-red and crimson HTs, and have a little pot-pet collection starting. The less vigorous ones are in 15" pots, while the others are in 22" resin barrels (from Home Depot, $20 each). Mine are all own-root, which is a plus when growing in pots since I don't want the extra vigor from rootstock. This is my current inventory, including from which nursery I purchased it. Unfortunately, Vintage Gardens is closed now, but if you search the names on HelpMeFind, you can see other nurseries carrying what I got from them. Roses Unlimited sells gallon-sized plants, while the others all came as band-sized plants. Also note that some are very old, and thus won't likely look like what you "expect" from HTs. 'Big Ben' (1964) -- Roses Unlimited (barrel) 'Chateau de Clos Vougeot' (1908) -- Rogue Valley Roses (pot) 'Chrysler Imperial' (1952) -- Vintage Gardens (barrel) 'Crimson Glory' VID (1935) -- Roses Unlimited (pot) 'Heart's Desire' VID (1942) -- Roses Unlimited (pot) 'Mirandy' VID (1944) -- Vintage Gardens (barrel) 'Mister Lincoln' VID (1964) -- Roses Unlimited (barrel) 'Night' aka 'Lady Sackville' (1921) -- Vintage Gardens (pot) 'Nigrette' (1934) -- Rogue Valley Roses (pot) -- note that this is also sold as 'Louis XIV' 'Nocturne' VID (1947) -- Vintage Gardens (pot) 'Oklahoma' VID (1964) -- Vintage Gardens (barrel) 'Red Masterpiece' VID (1974) -- Roses Unlimited (barrel) 'Rose of Freedom' VID (1948) -- Vintage Gardens (barrel) 'Velvet Fragrance' (1988) -- Heirloom Roses (barrel) I also have 'Black Lady' (1976) coming in Spring from Rogue Valley Roses. I have a list of future possibilities in this genre which appeal to me, which I'm posting as something for you to further investigate yourself. Again, look them up on HelpMeFind for pics and info, as well as nurseries which currently offer them. While I doubt I'll want all of these, there are a few which I'll bold that I'm seriously considering. Happy rose hunting! Avon Barcelona, aka Francis Dubreuil Belgica Black Velvet Burgund Charles Mallerin Christopher Stone Dark Desire Dave Davis Deep Secret Erotika Etoile de Hollande Gloire de Hollande Governor Rosellini John Waterer Lasting Love Liebeszauber Midnight Mme Louis Laperriere Night 'n' Day Night Time Olde Romeo Oregon Centennial Papa Meilland Royal William Senator Burda Uncle Joe / El Toro Velvet Hour Will Rogers :-) ~Christopher