Really? I've not tried cuttings that way yet, just some raspberries I took too young last year. Maybe I'll work up my courage and knock on their door . . .I know you can do that with forsythia and pussy willow. Thank you for the suggestion. york rose, yes, I did find the common name is fringe tree. I guess they can get quite large; I wouldn't want one any bigger than the one I photographed (didn't show the whole shrub, more bushlike in form), but I suppose I could keep one in check by pruning if it starts getting too big. One can hope, I'm lucky to get things to grow at all sometimes.

>I don't intend to split hairs by offering differing opinions, but the photos of the first two laurels look like every other 'Otto Luyken' I've ever seen, so not at all sure what the confusion might be>Dwarf English laurel, Prunus laurocerasus, probably 'Otto Luyken'>As to the ceanothus, I am also confused as to why one considers 'Victoria' to be the same or synonymous with 'Skylark'. The mature size of 'Victoria' would seem to negate that - 'Skylark' is typically considered a compact ceanothus, achieving a height of about 5' (one source states 3'x3') and about as wide or slightly wider. Victoria easily reaches double that size. And I've yet to locate a resource that confirms 'Victoria' is a hybrid - most sources and vendors are pretty unanimous in it being a cultivar of thrysiflorus. 'Skylark' may very well be a hybrid - its origins are a little sketchy - but I seriously doubt the two are the same plantThe origin of 'Skylark' remains ambiguous. Introduced by Mitch [sic] Nursery of Aurora, Oregon, the cultivar filtered through West Coast nursery channels until it was finally named by M. Nevin Smith with 'a desire to distinguish it from others in the trade' (Smith 1979). Parentage is thought to be Ceanothus thyrsiflorus var. thyrsiflorus x C. velutinus, which is consistent with the broad physical characteristics of the plant. It is believed by many to be the same plant grown in the nursery trade as C. thyrsiflorus 'Victoria'. Dense and compact, 'Skylark' has a dome-shaped form to 4 feet tall and 6 feet wide... --Fross/Wilken, Ceanothus (Timber Press) The dimensions given are of course not cast in stone or frozen in time, especially for such fast-growing shrubs. 4' x 6' would approximate a plant acquired as 'Victoria' I grew for a few years on Camano Island fairly well. Another specimen from the same source, planted in a different part of the property has not yet grown so broadly relative to its height. Two one gallon plants purchased from Emery's Garden as 'Skylark' and 'Victoria' were completely interchangeable at that stage of development. Since then growth on the hot sandy planting site has been slow, and one of them may have been lost beneath an overwhelming growth of weeds. >And having grown and sold C. obtusa 'Blue Feathers' for years, I have to say the shrub in question looks nothing like any other 'Blue Feather's I've seenAs far as can be seen in the picture it looks quite like another specimen I just planted.

Could be a Purple leaf plum Prunus cerasifera. Not 100% sure. Jen

As bboy said, 1 is a Portulacaria (I think probably Portulacaria afra). It is Elephant Bush, Elephant Food, and various other nicknames, and is sometimes called Dwarf Jade, but it is not truly a jade -- jades are in the Crassula genus, a different genus of succulents. [Though they resemble each other, Jade plants and Portulacaria afra are not in the same genus, not in the same family, and not even in the same order. They are distant cousins at best.] Here's some info about P. afra: http://www.smgrowers.com/products/plants/plantdisplay.asp?plant_id=1314