On Thu, 19 Jun 2003 15:02:41 -0400, Chelsea Christenson
wrote:

Not that I have the time and money to rip them all out and replace them,
but, supposing I did, what would be a good replacement? I'm looking for
something shade tolerant that would grow to about 6 feet tall,
preferably with some fullness all along the height of the plant.
Flowers would be nice, too. Nothing that needs lots of pruning year
after year after year.

VIBURNUMS Arrowwood and maple leaf viburnums grow native around
here in mountainous northwest NJ (zone 5 microclimate), and have
extremely nice flowers. The birds use the berries as forage. The
burkwood virburnum (viburnum burkwoodi) will have nice flowers that
smell wonderful (most viburnum flowers are beautiful but don't have
much aroma). Viburnums in general are a common stock at nurseries
around here, and are native to north america.

http://www.bbg.org/gar2/topics/plant...sp_spring.html

Viburnum trilobum, 'wentworth' cultivar (highbush cranberry) will have
showy flowers in spring, lustrous foliage and bright red berries in
fall. The berries can be eaten or substituted for cranberries,
although they are very tart until after a couple frosts. Although it
was difficult to find a local nursery which stocked highbush
cranberry, it was worth the search.

Dan