I'll bow to laceyvail's greater knowledge, but having spent 30 some years in Maryland where dogwood did (pre blight)/does abound, it does have the potential to reach some size. On our wooded lot, in the forest-like setting, the native dogwood tended to have tall slender trunks with a lacey canopy. However, a lovely one in the open on the front lawn was a sizeable tree, both height and width-wise. I'm just saying the potential for some growth is there and the OP's is planted close to the foundation. Daylilies (hemerocallis) are different from lilies (lilium) and without putting your nose right in the throat of a daylily - like Stella d'Oro which is yellow flowered - you'd get no hint of a scent. Some other groundcovers to consider: Phlox subulata (moss phlox) Moss pink, moss phlox or creeping phlox is a pretty common rock garden plant, but it also makes a good ground cover on poor, bare soils. It does do better when not competing with other things, though. It'll form a dense mat of foliage, which is covered in spring with masses of flowers in pink, purple, or white. Mine will often get a light reblooming throughout the summer and into the fall. Sedum (Stonecrop). Many different kinds ranging from tiny mats only a few inches high to plants 2 feet tall. They're used as ground covers, in rock gardens, on slopes, between stepping stones, etc. Most sedums are spreading or creeping plants that will root from broken branches or fallen leaves. Very easy, undemanding plants. From "How Stuff Works" - How to grow leadwort: Plant in well-drained soil that is rich in organic matter. Leadwort likes full sun or part shade. It will rot if the soil stays too wet, especially in winter. In most of growing Zones 5 and 6 plants die to the ground in winter. Apply a light winter mulch, and wait until growth resumes in mid-spring to cut stems back to the ground. Plant only in the spring: Leadwort needs a full growing season to get roots established. Uses for leadwort: Plant as a ground cover under shrubs and small trees and interplant spring-blooming bulbs such as crocus and daffodils." Late to come up means literally that - other plants may be well up before a "late" breaks ground in the spring. I experience that with platycodon which is the last to break ground here. Having gardened a long time, I know where the patches of it are so I know not to dig or plant over them. It's always good to put a marker over late breakers to alert you. And most information on any kind of plants will show you pictures of them at their peak of magnificence -rarely their fall die-back or spring emergence looks. You're kind of left to figure that out on your own. It's all fun and it's all a learning process no matter how long you've been at it. Despite any degree of gardening expertise, no one's immune from unintended consequences - something that just doesn't look right, failure to thrive or survive a winter even though it's supposed to, doesn't make the neighbors stop dead in their tracks. A good local garden center can be a wealth of information.

Glad this got bumped. I saw Dan Hinkley last year too and have had the same goal for my large border since his great talk. Its a little tough in a sunny bed to put Hosta. I tried a couple last year that didn't work. I since found that the plantaginea (sp?) types are supposed to tolerate sun the best. I was being bad at the PlantDelights.com web site this past weekend and I did a search for rodgersia. All the search came up with is a plant that had "rodgersia"-type racemes. But it has 1' leaves!!! It does take part-sun. I am going to try it on the least sunny part of my sunny border, even though it sounds like it might be happier in the woodland. Will see. It is called Peltoboykinia watanabe. I never heard of it, but I'm usually game for something new. They didn't give a common name, but the picture looks very similar to the biennial angelica gigas above. Hope its not a biennial. Back to Hosta for sunny gardens, I am also going to try 'Stained Glass' that claims to be sun-tolerant. I already have 'Guacamole' in a less sunny part of another border. I might move or divide some of that into more sun too. Inula sounds familiar... I think that was once on my list as a candidate but may be too borderline for here. Last year I put a canna in a pot in the sun border. It worked great. A few years ago in another garden I added an Angels Trumpet in a pot, the leaves weren't huge, but big enough and blue enough, they really held things together well. Hope I can find one this year.

Hello, I did look up nyctinasty but all I can find is about plants whose flowers close at night. I'm trying to see if there is something more specific to the wisteria but can't find much. But from what I'm seeing, this has to be it. I'm not touching the soil at all, it's moist. During the day, the leaves are up, and at night, they are down, like touching the ground. In the morning, they are back up. It's like a yoyo. Maybe there is just nothing wrong with it but I wish I could find something online that says it hehe just to reassure me. The Wisteria is a Blue Japanese Wisteria btw. This is it right now. Almost 3 weeks old. Stephane

I just bought 11 acres of all woods. I must admit I see all these leaves everywhere and I too have wondered how to handle the situation. I get that yall love you some leaves but ticks spiders snakes and every other woodland creature love leaves to hide under as well. I will be creating a yard space for the home so I'm definitely not trying to take away the whole Woodlands property beauty but realistically having a nice lawn around your house has its appeal and a good safe buffer zone. I'll put up a fence and include a snake fence along the bottom to keep the kids and pets protected and if they want to go explore the wide open woods its a simple matter to open a gate. So what I am asking is what would be the easiest way to get up all the leaves and pine needles without all the constant raking every year. I don't think a leaf blower would be realistic for this task. Maybe a lawn mower with bag collection? Any other possibilities other than buying a 3-5k machine? Just toss out ideas and ill do my research on them individually lol thanks in advance everyone