Front yard groundcovers Z5b

Yikes!

Equilibrrium~~~~I thought what I had WAS the Pachysandra terninalis (the Japanese one)...when you say "Asian thug" which one are you referring to? I also have the native procumbens...but I thought there was only one other...the terninalis. ????

Yup, it looks as if you have P. terminalis. Pachysandra terminalis is native to both Japan and China. That's why I used the word Asian. For some reason one of the common names to this plant is Japanese Pachysandra but there is considerably more of it growing in China than in Japan. Maybe Japan was the first Country to import it to us so we called it Japanese Pachysandra? There are a few more out there. Pachysandra axillaris and P. stylosa are both native only to China but you could still refer to them as Asian. Those two are pretty aggressive too. I'm sure that as Pachysandra terminalis loses popularity here after more people get a taste of what it can do, the other two will be introduced as "new and improved" less weedier Pachysandra. This is how we sort of get ourselves in trouble. They are pretty much all Asian Pachysandra and they will most probably all share undesirable characteristics but we won't have data on the new comers so they'll be sold like gangbusters over here until they begin behaving badly and then somebody will go oops! But by then yet another horse will have been let out of an open barn door. By they way, there are numerous cultivars of P. terminalis that have been introduced. Don't let that fool people, they share the same DNA as the monster we all know is a problem child.

cjolene -- no apologies necessary. I'm already wondering if in my frenzy to plant the side and back areas of the yard -- where there are gorgeous, towering old white oak trees -- I planted vinca. Don't think so, but I know the previous owner did. Time to go check my files. The discussions among you all are truly educational! We moved here a couple of years ago from the concrete and asphalt jungle in Chicago, and last year was the first time I had time to really experiment with perennials. Thanks for the good advice.