Hello, my husband and I recently moved into a "new to us" home and we have a lot of plants I have had to identify. We are trying to fix our flowerbeds now and I have these 2 that I Cant identify. The first one is lower to the ground and has recently been sending out new growth that seems to be reaching upward, It also seems to be spreading rather quickly. The second one is a bush that has a lot of dead spots but has leafed out nicely. I used a small sprinkler head in the photos to show size comparison. Thank you, Christy
Help me identify these 2 plants/shrubs
- Thread starter CGriffith
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Ridgerunner
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Hi Christy, welcome to the forum. Glad you joined.
Where are you located, that might help narrow it down. Pretty sure you haven't seen any flowers, those can be a big help. What does the old wood look like on that first viney plant? Does it have old wood or is it just coming up from the ground from the roots? If you crush the leaves do they have a distinctive smell?
I'm not ready to start guessing, nether one jumps out at me. We'll see how some of the experts do.
Where are you located, that might help narrow it down. Pretty sure you haven't seen any flowers, those can be a big help. What does the old wood look like on that first viney plant? Does it have old wood or is it just coming up from the ground from the roots? If you crush the leaves do they have a distinctive smell?
I'm not ready to start guessing, nether one jumps out at me. We'll see how some of the experts do.
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- #3
Thank you for your response, I am Idaho in a 7a zone and they are planted on the shady North side of the house. The first plant has some woody stalks and it was evergreen (somewhat yellow- attached photo) this winter when we were looking at the house. The new stalks are soft and green. No flowers yet. The second had some mostly dried leaves through the winter. No distinct smell on either plants crushed leaves. No floers on either but the second plant/bush has some buds starting -see attached photo.
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digitS'
Garden Master
No expert on perennial plants but I will hazard a guess.
I think the first, low-growing one is periwinkle, Vinca. No blooms? There should be periwinkle blue flowers at some time. The plants in my yard get a fair amount of morning sunlight and have bloomed.
Some folks see Vinca as invasive. My wife did not want it under our deck so, I took those out but left the ones in the sunnier spot. I like it and don't consider it much trouble as a ground cover.
The bush -- you may need to wait for a flower, if it will make one it will be easier to ID.
Steve
I think the first, low-growing one is periwinkle, Vinca. No blooms? There should be periwinkle blue flowers at some time. The plants in my yard get a fair amount of morning sunlight and have bloomed.
Some folks see Vinca as invasive. My wife did not want it under our deck so, I took those out but left the ones in the sunnier spot. I like it and don't consider it much trouble as a ground cover.
The bush -- you may need to wait for a flower, if it will make one it will be easier to ID.
Steve
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- #5
Thank you Steve,
The vinca I have had in the past was a deeper richer green with stiffer leaves and stayed flat to the ground -less than 6" tall. It might be another variety. The vinca I had at our old house was much slower growing but was invasive -but I couldn't resist the blue flowers. I will keep my fingers crossed. If that is what it is I will keep it, just trim it back a bit. I will keep watching the bush. I would like to remove it but I'm afraid that I might be eliminating something nice?
Thanks!
The vinca I have had in the past was a deeper richer green with stiffer leaves and stayed flat to the ground -less than 6" tall. It might be another variety. The vinca I had at our old house was much slower growing but was invasive -but I couldn't resist the blue flowers. I will keep my fingers crossed. If that is what it is I will keep it, just trim it back a bit. I will keep watching the bush. I would like to remove it but I'm afraid that I might be eliminating something nice?
Thanks!
