Saltcedar -- bingo! That's certainly it... and though I'm happy to learn it's a native here in New England, I'm worried about my cat, who is infatuated with the stuff and ingested a leaf (and perhaps another half) of my cutting last night when I wasn't looking. She seems okay today and I'm guessing we'd be seeing symptoms by now if she weren't, but I'm still worried -- it doesn't sound like a plant I want to have hanging around the edges of my yard. VERY glad to know what it is -- many thanks! (Does anyone know HOW toxic it is??)

foundation plantings are planted to hide the foundation ... purely aesthetics ... unfortunately ... those small cheap plants.. planted there 20 years ago.. turned into the monster they really are ... not a single shrub in that picture is properly sited to its size potential ... IMHO.. they all need to go .. as to removal ... i would not attach them to the truck bumper and TEAR them out as you suggest .... i am with your guy on that part ... but they do need to go with what is called a shovel.. and a saw.. and spend a few hours getting them out of there ... now.. back to aesthetics.. i personally would not be running a veggie garden out my front door.. its the prime focal point of your new house.... if this were Appalachia ... well.. thats one thing.. but in suburbia.. thats not where the veggies go .. IN MY MIND .... again.. its aesthetic.. and whatever makes you happy will be fine with me .... i just would NOT be a happy neighbor ... sooooo ... this house has no back yard???? if its all shade.. why not remove a tree or two out back.. and build a bigger veggie garden out back???? yoru space limits in front and on the side.. are not really going to give you enough room for much more than a few herbs .... hey.. its your house.. but i suggest you think out your plan.. now that you will 'own' the neighbors.. for a long time.. if you were renting.. and dont really care what those peeps think.. its one thing.. but it can be tricky not to start world war 3 ... by share cropping your front lawn .. eh??? good luck with your new house and garden ... ken PS: it might be worthwhile to get some close up pix.. and actually ID the plants in question ....

In my case, forsythia is nice to look at but blooms too early to be used for market. Mine is toward the end of its bloom now. Market starts May 7th. Curly willow - YES! Nothing adds height and style to a bouquet like a twig or two of curly willow placed RIGHT THERE. I've found I don't use my red-twig dogwood for cutting much. The red darkens and isn't as pretty by the time market starts, cut or left on the bush. Or were you considering a red-flowered dogwood? I haven't tried that - yet. Just for foliage, how about some snowberries? I don't grow them, Mother Nature does a great job on that here, so I get to use their foliage, which is especially precious early in the year before much else is available. I know there are commercially available types. Jeanne

The common name "mountain laurel" is confusing in that kalmia is native to the mountains, the Piedmont, and the Coastal Plain of the Southeast. In South Carolina, for example, there is Kalmia Gardens, named for the indigenous kalmia, in the City of Hartsville, which is on the coastal plain. We have several mountain laurels in our yard, collected in the South Carolina mountains, growing under a pine canopy. I think mountain laurel will also perform well in full sun. If you are able to find a source of the unnamed native species, I think you will find it much prettier than the named cultivars available at nurseries. To me, there is something a little garish about the named mountain laurel cultivars. The generic native mountain laurel possesses a subtle beauty that has been bred out of the named cultivars. A word of caution: It's a good idea to keep your livestock, i.e., cows, goats, sheep, etc., and children, away from mountain laurel because it has the reputation of being deadly if ingested. Mountain laurel may be a little less lethal than oleander, but I'm not sure about that. (Remember the road crew down at Brunswick, GA, who burned a pile of oleander, inhaled fumes from the bonfire, and keeled over dead a few years ago?)