Thanks, brettski - I recently found this forum and think it's awesome. I'm an ecological consultant who also does a lot of hands-on restoration work in northern Virginia.
Once you get your silky dogwoods and buttonbush going, let them grow a few years and you will have a ready-made on-site cutting farm. You can either cut them back fairly evenly and use the branch tip cuttings, or thin them out by taking out several stems and cutting them into 1-2 foot long cuttings, or live stakes as the thicker ones are known. For the thicker ones, be sure to cut the base at a 45 degree angle and the top flat. The flat top allows you to tap them in with a hammer if the soil is dense (easy with the hammer - don't split them) and keeps them right side up. Put them in upside down and they won't do a thing.
Rob, pepperbush likes it generally moist but not too wet, and it is generally native only to the coastal plain. It generally likes it sheltered under a tree canopy and will burn up out in the wind. I see you're in southeast PA - try Octararo Nurseries, who grows purely native plants for large scale restoration projects. They are wholesale but will usually sell big orders to landowners.
