dsteg would argue with you whaas ... that KC summer night heat and humidity are much different.. and that is why you and I can do some conifers.. he cant .... which is also part of why they are quizzing the hort.. who seems to have lost interest ... or has a real life.. outside GW ... regardless... i consider viburnum to be a run it over with the truck plant.. and dont know what difference latitude would make ... i have the variegated one.. which is brilliant bright yellow and green splashed in full sun.. and the same plant in shade.. is grey and green splashed ... the ONLY downside on this plant.. is the scent of the flowers is called 'dirty diaper' ... lol ... i also have mohawk in full sun ... and its fragrance is sublime ... though i dont know its shade vigor ... [i also wonder if there is this one.. and another named mohican.. or are we using two different names for the same fragrant plant???] p-man.. frankly.. no shrub EVER STOPS GROWING ... e.g. i have seen lilac as big as a hundred year old house ... its all about ANNUAL GROWTH RATE ... and how fast it gets bigger than you want.... and rejuvenation pruning ... if you think you can plant and forget any shrub forever .. you must have a branch of de nile running thru your KC .... you are right to be looking for dwarf version of the monsters.. but dont get too hung up between one that claims to only grow 5 feet rather than 8.. or something like that ... choose the best plant.. not a size 'claim' to fit a spot ... ken ps: my first house was next to a funeral home.. and there were 30 year old viburnum blocking the view.. they were just below the lower power lines [probably the phone and cable].. 20 feet tall?? ... and 40 to 50 feet wide.. and that is what 30 years will get you with a shrub.. some of the branches were 4 to 6 inch diameter ... since they were not on my property.. they were beautiful... lol .. Here is a link that might be useful: probably bigger than you might want.. but really cool ...

My suggestions are perhaps a combo including low growing junipers and cotoneaster (nice glossy deep green hearty foliage , w/ red berries.) I actually have 2 or 3 mature junipers that i am considering replacing (though i do love them, it's because of space constraints). They are blue star and a variegated gold and blue one. Each one is about 40" W x 30" D. (contact me via my member profile if you're interested) Cotoneaster is very attractively used all over the Mt Auburn cemetery. http://www.finegardening.com/rockspray-cotoneaster-horizontalis http://www.finegardening.com/evergreen-hollies http://www.finegardening.com/fragrant-sumac-rhus-aromatica-%E2%80%98gro-low%E2%80%99 One thing to consider: you might enjoy planting some bulbs that will come up through the branches of your groundcover. I was thinking of the alliums that, once bloomed, can still look cool when their heads are left on, like christophii and schubertii and other globe-headed ones...

Image by: Ian NartowiczSymphoricarpus alba (Snowberry)Autumn Interest At the end of the summer when the annuals have lost their lustre and most flowering shrubs and perennials have given up, the garden can still put on a good show. There are some plants that will flower well into autumn, some that will already have a showy fruit crop, and some that will dazzle with the colour of its dying foliage. Much depends on climate. In warmer areas it is easy to find shrubs that will flower into November or later, but it is less easy to get stunning red foliage in warm zones. Winter Interest When the days are short and snow is on the ground, a few shrubs still offer a bit of colour in the garden. Bright red berries are the obvious choice for colour in winter, but there are fruit in other colours, attractive variegated evergreens, and even the occasional flowering shrub. Again, different climates force us to look at different shrubs for winter interest. In really cold winters, flowers are impossible and foliage is restricted to needles. In warmer areas, attractive foliage may be lost in a mass of green and berries may be hidden by leaves. Shrubs to Consider Here is a list of some shrubs that you might want to consider for autumn and/or winter interest. I have tried to include shrubs with interesting flowers, foliage, berries, or stems, and to include some for very cold zones. Latin name Common Name Attractive features USDA zones Aronia sp. Chokeberry Reliable bright autumn colours. 4-9 Callicarpa sp. Beautyberry Stunning berries in various purple and violet colours in autumn and early winter. 6-11 Camellia sp. Camellia White, pink, or red flowers in autumn, early winter, or late winter, depedning on the variety. Flowers in winter in warmer zones and autumn or spring in colder areas. 6-11 Chimonanthus praecox Fragrant Wintersweet Yellow/purple flowers any time during winter depending on the weather. 6?-10 Clethra barbinervis Japanese Clethra Exfoliating bark visible throughout the winter. 5-8 Cornus mas Cornelian Cherry Dogwood Dull yellow flowers in late winter and early spring, a little like a native Forsythia. Some autumn colour. 4-8 Cornus sp. Dogwood Bare red or yellow stems during winter on several species and varieties. Berries on some varieties. 3-8 Corylis avellana 'Contorta' Corkscrew Hazel Bizarre twisted stems visible during the winter. Catkins in late winter. 4-9 Disanthus cercidifolius Disanthus Bright red autumn leaves. 6-10 Enkianthus sp. Enkianthus Very good autumn colour in some plants, not so good in others. 6-9 Erica carnea Heath White, pink, or red flowers during winter 4-9 Euonymus alata Burning Bush Brilliant red foliage in autumn, but invasive in some areas. 4-9 Fothergilla gardenii Dwarf Fothergilla Autumn colours from orange to purple, but variable so pick a good individual plant. 5-10 Garrya elliptica Silk Tassel Long catkins in mid-winter. 8-10 Hamamelis x. intermedia Witch Hazel Red or yellow flowers in winter. Brilliant autumn foliage on some varieties. 5-9 Hebe 'Red Edge' Red Edge Hebe Evergreen blue-green foliage with maroon edges and tips, especially in winter. 8-10 Hydrangea quercifolia Oakleaf Hydrangea Good colour into late autumn and attractive peeling bark on coloured stems. 5-9 Ilex aquifolium English Holly Persistent red berries, evergreen, some varieties have variegated foliage. 7-9 Ilex glabra Inkberry Small black berries all winter, some varieties have white berries. Evergreen foliage. 5-9 Ilex verticillata Winterberry Persistent red berries on this deciduous holly. 3-8 Ilex x meserveae Blue Holly Spiny bluish evergreen foliage and many red berries. 5-9 Itea virginica Virginia Sweetspire Mixed autumn colours from yellow to crimson. 6-10 Jasminum nudiflorum Winter Jasmine Yellow flowers on bare green stems November - March. 6-10 Lonicera fragrantissima Winter Honeysuckle Highly fragrant but not showy flowers in late winter. 4-9 Lonicera x purpusii 'Winter Beauty' Winter Honeysuckle Highly fragrant white/yellow flowers in winter. 5-9 Mahonia x media Holly Grape Long yellow flower racemes in mid-winter. Distinctive spiny evergreen foliage. 7-9 Nandina domestica Heavenly Bamboo Brilliant red foliage all winter. May also have berries, usually red but yellow or white on some varieties. 6-9 Osmanthus Tea Olive or False Holly Flowers in late autumn. Attractive evergreen leaves like English Holly, variegated in some cultivars. 7-9 Photinia villosa Oriental Photinia Showy autumn foliage. 4-9 Pieris japonica Japanese Pieris Coloured flowers bud throughout the winter. Shaped evergreen foliage. 5-10 Pyracantha coccinea Firethorn Yellow, orange, or red berries until spring. Semi-evergreen. 5-9 Rubus cockburnianus White-stemmed bramble White stems all winter. 6-8 Sarcococca sp. Sweetbox White flowers against dark green foliage in mid-winter. Some species only hardy to zone 8. 6-10 Stephanandra tanakae ? Orange and red autumn colours. 5-9 Symphoricarpus alba Snowberry White berries in autumn 2-8 Vaccinium sp. Blueberry Red autumn foliage and red winter stems. Berries are a summer feature. 2-9 Viburnum farreri Fragrant Virburnum Fragrant white flowers in early and late winter. 5-9 Viburnum lentago Nannyberry Berries in various shades eventually bluish-black by late autumn. 2-8 Viburnum tinus Laurestinus Viburnum White flowers and strongly coloured berries all through winter. 8-11 Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn' Dawn Viburnum Masses of pale pink flowers in winter. 6-10

Jennifer, Could the dog have been bitten by a snake she was trying to bite? If you can look at the hard knot in her mouth, do you see any fang marks? When we have a dog with swelling around the mouth/nose/snout area, it usually is a copperhead bite. No treatment required except maybe Benadryl for swelling. The only time we've had a dog stung by a bee or hornet wasn't in the mouth---was in the facial area and there were knots at the sting sites and swelling. Benadyl was the solution. With the onions that got wet, it probably just means they'll need a longer drying period. Watch them for mold though. Amy, When Houzz changes things, I just roll on and work around whatever they've changed. I ignore notifications, FAQs, etc. in the gardening season because I don't have time for that stuff. I just come here to chat with y'all. I'm just grateful they saved GardenWeb when it looked like it was going to go away and disappear into the realm of used-to-be's. Someday it will go away and all we'll have left to help us stay in touch is the OK Gardening-related FB pages. I think it is just a matter of time. I'm surprised your Red Rivers are done. When I've grown them they're usually about the last ones to mature, and it often is late June or sometime in July. This has been a weird year, and my onions are weirder than anything else. Half the 1015Ys fell over and I harvested them. The rest remain strong and upright and still growing. Normally they're done by now. One Candy has fallen over. None of the others have. Copra? Nothing yet and I wouldn't expect it. Either last year or the year before they were the last ones to mature and it took them forever. This has been such a weird weather year that I guess nothing should surprise us at this point. Some of my tomato plants have great fruit set. Some do not. It appears directly related to how early I did or did not plant them. The ones planted in late March (I only planted 7 that early) have had a huge fruit set, and we've already harvested most of that fruit----dozens and dozens of tomatoes. The rest, the ones that were planted about 10-14 days later, have set maybe 1/5th as much fruit. Some have not set fruit at all. We went from too cold to too hot literally overnight here and the plants just sat there forever, shellshocked and doing nothing. It probably doesn't help that the rain mostly keeps missing us. For as bad as I think they look compared to most years, at leaste they are relatively healthy. We may be too hot now for them to ever set fruit and I'm not going to baby them through the whole entire summer, so if they want to stick around, they'd better get busy setting fruit. Next year I'll probably plant them all as early as possible and cover them, instead of planting in stages. Rebecca, We don't have JBs down here. I guess they haven't yet made it this far west and south. We might see 1 or 2 stray ones each summer. Dorothy (Mulberryknob) lives in Adair County and I'm almost positive she mentioned buying and using some type of Japanese Beetle traps from someplace like Home Depot in previous years. I've never seen those traps down here, but it seems like they worked pretty well for her. Larry, I'm sorry about the hail. I hope the damage wasn't too bad, We don't get much rain here in the summer months, and I do try to grow dryland style as much as possible, but I still have to irrigate quite a bit. I wish I didn't. It is a grandchildren weekend so I didn't step foot in the garden today and probably won't step foot it it tomorrow either. I'm okay with that. After working in it all week in the heat, as much as I do love it, I need a break and weekends are a good time to take a break and spend the time with family and friends. Dawn