Looks like Privet to me.

in need of some rejuvenation pruning ..???

though i see the mess behind .. that they are trying to hide ...

and i dont care what they are.. a 120 miles of gas is not worth those things ... i know you like these rescue projects.. but sometimes free is not worth it ...

ken

My guess is that they want someone to come and dig those ugly plants.

I have some Burning Bushes I'd like to replace with something that flowers, has berries, and is not considered by some as invasive. Privet does not quite fit the bill, even for free. These were a possibility as later this week I'm meeting an old friend for lunch who lives less than 10 miles away. Hey, this gave me the opportunity to learn about Privet and it's pros and cons.

vince

well... lets be clear.. on this pic alone.. we are GUESSING its privet ...

i am not an ID pro.. but they could also be many other things.. to me.. it looks vaguely like quince also ... but that isnt worth the gas either.. lol ...

two thumbs up on moving forward on removal of burning bushes ...

ken

To me it looks more like neglected mock orange than a privet. too leggy.

If you want a flowering, berry-bearing shrub, how about viburnum, like highbush cranberry?

The guy giving them away has since told me they have small white flowers and some berries. I'm waiting to hear back what color the berries are.

If Mock Orange, I'd love to get them, but not Privet. VIburnums would be nice, too, but I am restricting myself to those available for free.

If it has berries it's not Philadelphus. The description fits a privet of some sort.

i am not aware.. that any of my 6 MOrange has berries.

the flower smell like orange.. not that they have little oranges on them ..

ken

I used the Google, and it found me these images of Mock Orange Berries:

https://www.google.com/search?q=mock+orange+berries&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=eiU&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=qYlLUf3fPPLyyAGaiIEo&ved=0CDAQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=553

I, of course, don't know from experience, which is why I went to Google.

farmboy1 - none of those pictures shows Mock Orange berries in so far as 'Mock Orange' is usually considered to refer to Philadelphus. The search has turned up pictures of orange coloured berries and of another plant sometimes called Mock Orange. However, the latter is a tropical and does not resemble the bushes in your photo nor would it grow in zone 5. Google is notorious for producing incorrect pictures and unless you already roughly know what you are looking for it is easy to be misled.

This is another example of why it is really important to find the scientific name of plants rather than rely on common names. Philadelphus does not produce berries. An example of one species is at the link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Philadelphus fruit

This post was edited by flora_uk on Fri, Mar 22, 13 at 7:49

My great apologies for confusing and irritating the experts!

I've googled for other leaf and flower images in the past and didn't run into such problems.

Thanks for straightening me out!

vince

Oh, please don't get me wrong - no one is irritated with you at all. It's just that Google sticks up picture which have been labelled by all sorts of people, who have often misidentified their pictures. It can be very useful, of course, but try to find several which look the same and then cross check, preferably using the scientific name. Good luck with your shrub hunt.