mcgrew56 There is some type of plant/bush/tree that grows in Ohio which produces a "fruit" that looks just like the Osage orange in the last picture. We called them "hedge apples"...and my grandmother insisted that if you put them around the corners of your house, they would keep the spiders away! It actually seemed to work when we tried it! Does anyone know what that Ohio specimen is called?

shell10 Monkey Balls??

Karen Grundy I remember putting on a bicycle helmet to stand underneath the osage orange tree (we called it a bois d'arc, or bodark) and pick up the green fruit that were slowly rotting in our yard. The helmet was necessary because if one of those things fell and hit you in the head you'd be knocked out cold. At the time I considered them a pest, so you can imagine my bemusement when I saw them as a room accent in a design magazine!

elizabeth22 Osage orange is supposed to be good for keeping insects away.

Kim Gamel Another name for Osage Orange is Hedge Apple, it's one in the same.

blueyesrsmiling We also have hedge plants s in Missouri...they are a pain in the behind. People use them to throw under their houses to kill bugs, they get rotten and leak...nothing will eat it so really why would you plant one except to pick up hundreds of them every fall?

gschneider We planted oak leaf hydrangeas in several areas around our house because we just love the leaves that turn gorgeous colors in the fall. (We actually have several specific varieties so there are always ones blooming throughout the growing season.) However, oak leaf hydrangeas definitely have the more cone shaped head made up of many little blooms and it blooms first thing in the spring, not fall. (Posted pics of fall leaves & spring flowering head.) I believe that's another type of hydrangea in the picture above & wouldn't want someone making the mistake of planting one expecting what's in the picture & getting something else. However, all hydrangeas are beautiful & all have something different to offer the grower - a worthy plant, indeed!

Da-Miss-Zee Studio Design Build My (Canadian) Thanksgiving flower centerpiece this year with Goldenrod in full bloom - a bright gold color. Also picked Solomon's Seal, hosta flowers, Poison Sumac, and anything wild I find around the neighbourhood.

While I like large displays for the dinner table, anything higher than eye level while sitting tends to interfere with the conversational flow. This vase was moved to a side table prior to dinner being served.

lizard58 Is the picture of 'winterberry' also known as bittersweet? That looks like what I have on my property that is coveted and picked for fall bouquets and wreaths, but we call it bittersweet.

perezfam My dad loved goldenrod. I asked the church if I could bring some in for his funeral and the force of the "NOOO!" was astonishing. Goldenrod does indeed get a bad rap.

Kim Gamel American bittersweet is a woody vine that also has decorative berries, but it is a different plant from the winterberry.

kathyfansler hedge apple, osage orange both are names for the same....warning if you put them in a bowl....make sure it is a bowl that will not stain such as wood or some metals...they will leak and cause a sticky stain that is almost impossible to remove...they do ward of spiders and bugs and mice but they make a mess where they lay...also the wood of the tree is very hard and rot resistant...farmers cut them for corner posts of fence...because they do not rot for years......