I grew Cossack Pineapple, Aunt Molly's, Goldie and New Hanover side by side this year. Cossack Pineapple definitely tastes different from the others, but I preferred the taste of New Hanover the best. However, for yield Goldie was the clear winner. Also, New Hanover, Cossack Pineapple and Aunt Molly's all gave me lots of little pea sized fruit mixed in with larger fruit. New Hanover in particular had a huge variation in fruit size, with some fruit being large and others being tiny. Goldie was the only one that had consistent fruit size. So if you want yield and consistency, Goldie is best. For flavor, Cossack Pineapple and New Hanover were best, depending on your preference. Supposedly, Aunt Molly's is best for pies, but I didn't do any baking. I will be growing Goldie to sell at the farmer's market next year, but I might throw in a plant or two of New Hanover for myself to snack on. Cape Gooseberry is in the same family as ground cherries, but it is very different in flavor and the plant also grows differently. The berries have a really unique taste and I highly recommend putting a plant or two in the garden.

Catherinet, My friends Grace smoke tree is doing the same thing your cutleafs are, it looks strange. She has never cut hers back, so she is going to, next St Patty's Day where she lives, in PA, zone 6. I would advize you to look into severly pruning them to see if they will grow more upright next year. I know they are cousins of the smoke bush, in same family and they grow fast and LOVE sun. I don't like the way they look like that, I would cut mine back too, before they leaf out next year and see if they grow straight up for you.

I just googled it, and it sound like a disaster, besides being poisonous. And yes, it does grow from pieces of root, like bindweed. You could try digging it up carefully with a garden fork, which doesn't break the roots like a shovel does. I have done that for mugwort, and it worked. If it is too monumental a spread to do that, try Ken's trick with RoundUp - put straight RU in a small squeeze bottle, then cut each plant almost to the ground, and put a drop or so of RU on the freshly-cut stem. That should at least greatly reduce the spread. You will probably have to do it again, to get the few that will resprout. I wish you all the good luck; it sounds dreadful. Not all native plants belong in the garden, unfortunately.

Mine volunteer in large numbers also; the winter freeze doesn't seem to hurt their germination. If you start them indoors, I agree with @wayne_5 zone 5b/6a Central Indiana; don't plant them too early. They are fast growing & tend to develop a tap root, so if started indoors along with tomatoes, they may become root bound. You can direct-seed them at the same time as beans, and still get a fairly decent crop... but the best crop will be the volunteers you get the second year.