Would love to trade the columbine for some beautiful red geranuiums. These spead well and come back hardy every year. Let me know can trade fast. Thanks

KDK6, It's a wax leaf privet. I have 3 of them. Don't allow your dog to eat any berries from shrubs, just to be on the safe side. I have a bichon too, and she is kept on a lead so she doesn't get in my gardens. They aren't high energy dogs. The privets do smell very good in April abd May when they flower. I use them for evergreen privacy.

I saw that black berried form at the arb the other day and was wondering if that was freeze damage or normal coloring. I did see plenty of wild beautyberry on my big drive out west last month - even found a patch of gold leaved ones in Arkansas. Dana - if Annie hasn't sent you any berries I brought some back from my parents place. They have to go through two winters to sprout. I'm gonna try nicking some of the seed coat off to try and speed things up. The hybrid Snowberries that are for sale this season do have a better look overall than the wild form. And once established the wild form is hard to weed out - very tough roots and stems, even though the plant looks delicate.

Pokeberry has long old drupes of berries and is edible if you get the leaves young and boil it a few times. This is Deadly Nightshade and will kill ya! Here's a pokeberry pic. I love pokeberry. It's invasive and all but the birds LOVE it so it's fitting with my aggressive native xeriscape. Here is a link that might be useful: pokeberry