I was thinking #6 looks like a weigela (the lower plant).

ETA: Oops, picture #6 post #11...

Yeah, there are great big hydrangeas in three or four places. Should I cut them back?
Re: #9: I think it's a little too small to be forsythia, and doesn't forsythia usually bloom before it puts out leaves?
I had to go look up Clematis -- it looks like it will have beautiful flowers! I can't wait to see what comes up next.

You could put in a really nice water feature in the area where the moss is growing. Something that splashes a bit so the moss grows extra thick. We don't get much moss growing in my part of the world. Mostly fungus. lol Nowhere near as romantic.

Don't cut the hydrangea back, it won't bloom again for several years of you do.
There are quite a few kinds of clematis... some grow slowly and some will takeover quickly. I used to cut mine down to the ground every year and it would still get out of hand. If that's what you've go there I would at least cut it back off it's neighbors... although it doesn't look like it got too big last year.

call your county government , see if they have an Agriculture extintion office ,
or ask a reputable garden center mngr who is the master gardner for the area ,
or do a Google search fpr the master gardner for the area , they should have Lots of advice

or just get your self one of these http://www.amazon.com/Red-Dragon-VT2...6903536&sr=8-1

Hell get one any way , they are usefull and fun !!!

Thanks, Jinx. I've been reading up on hydrangeas since I posted last. They seem to be 'mopheads', in which case I should definitely not cut them down, just prune off the dead heads themselves very close to the flower. Does that make sense?

I will pull the clematis off its victim. We'll see how fast it grows this year!

No water features -- too many mosquitoes. Too much work to upkeep!
I'm going for something like this.

I have a friend in the area who's a master gardener. I will be asking her to come over sometime in the next month or so -- but I didn't want to wait that long before I started work. I need to get moving on cleaning up all the fallen leaves and branches from the winter.

She's also much more interested in vegetables than ornamentals. Right now, I'm only planning to plant a few herbs.

If you wanted a more "uniform" moss growth, or just wanted to encourage it's spread you could try the moss recipe on the bald spots:

Mix up a batch of 12 oz. beer, 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and a couple of clumps of moss. Paint this mixture thickly on any damp shady surface you'd like to be moss covered and the moss will slowly grow and spread.

:thumb: I'd heard of something similar, putting the moss in an old blender (to help break open the spore casings) with buttermilk, since moss prefers an acidic environment.

Hydrangeas attract ants, so it's best if you don't have any right next to the house. Mrs. Dar and neighbor gardening lady cut back our hydrangea every year and every year we get blooms. I don't know why. I do as little gardening as possible.

We moved in to our house in early spring, before anything had started to sprout/come up. I loved the little surpises I found around our yard every time I went out. On the other hand, I am STILL trying to get rid of some of the stuff, like a damn rose bush, that won't stop coming back after 6 years!! :lol:

I walk by a church every day on my way to work that has 4-6 huge gorgeous hydrangeas between the building and the sidewalk. Every fall for the last 8 years, they have cut them down to within inches of the ground, and every spring, they come back as beautiful as ever. I don't know how long they were there before I started working here though...so maybe you can only cut mature ones back like this?

Take your pictures to a local greenhouse/nursery, along with a sample of each if you are really feeling spunky. They will be able to identify everything, no problem.

Have fun!!!

Apparently, there are more than one type of hydrangea. Some only bloom on the old wood (therefore, you don't prune), and others will happily bloom on new growth. I was looking at this site for identification help.

Not from your part of the country so things may vary but, #8 looks a lot like a bay laurel type of bush - not very exciting. I forget what the healthy one in #9 is called, but it should be smothered in tiny pink or white flowers in early spring. Bees love it. Water should help the purple guy. #10 looks like some vinca creeping in there. Don't know about MD, but in the south it's a curse and takes over everything, so you might want to abate it now. On the right in #11 looks like a relative of a marguerite daisy - should have tiny yellow daisy like flowers on it soon.

Hydrangeas are my favorite too. Grew like mad in Cali, but not so much here in CO.

Enjoy your surprises!!!

How strange! Many people plant vinca on purpose as a ground cover back in NJ -- never heard of it getting out of control. I like its dark green leaves and purple flowers better than pachysandra, anyways. Now the ivy, on the other hand, was a vicious predator. It tried to eat our heat exchanger and damn near won.

Thanks for all the idents. I will try and water "poor purple guy" and see if he gets better!

Ahhhh. According to your linkie Pie, the plants I pass by are Annabelle (snowball) hydrangeas. They start green, turn white, and return to green.

::ticks "learn something new today" off her to-do list::