Same thing happened to me at the John Hancock tower in Chicago. It happens everywhere. Sucks. Kids I chaperone don't do that. So it doesn't have to happen all over. Used to be when I corrected my son in public, friends and family would say, "That's ok". And I would say, "No. It's not ok" [he needs to be polite]. I wish people wouldn't say that. Worse, then they'd quip kids will be kids. UGH! No wonder kids do what the do when people give them excuses for bad behavior. There is a time and a place for everything. I will say, the Vanderbilt's money have left a grand legacy. If nothing else, a medical center built from the ground up with programs funded by their endowment. The endowment still stands and still funds research and education. Just one thing? This is where Blalock and Thomas began the journey to corrective heart surgery. If nothing else. But there is much much more! Sorry for the digression. I happen to be a healthcare administrator at Vanderbilt, so I have a deep love (big grin!) for this place.

Thank you Tinker. We will be ordering from Boyles also. The ethan allan collection we considered did not have drawer stops and the drawers didn't open & close freely. The Boyles rep recommended ffd (one of several companies) and I read about their construction process, but so appreciate hearing from an actual user, especially one who has had the furniture for a year. Thanks again!

I post most on my local area forum (New England) which is quite active. I also sometimes post on perennials, shrubs and here. Mostly I am posting what I already have planted, not asking for input on plans. I don't draw planting plans, however, but I do plan in my head, and usually lay out everything in a new or refurbished bed before planting anything. I think we have fewer issues with regular water here in New England than you do (my memory is that you are further west, though your profile doesn't say), though this spring we have gone 3 weeks, much of it windy with temperatures in the 70's and 80's (unseasonably warm) without a drop. I would welcome rain about now as our fire danger is high. Usually we get regular rain, and I don't worry about watering other than the veggie garden. But I do plant in zones where the plants that may need water if we go for longer than a month without rain are within range of hoses. Along the edge of the woods, I haul water in jugs for the first year after planting if needed, and then after that the plants are on their own to survive or not. Like you, I plant natives in areas farther from the house which for me is along the woodland and wetland edges.

“I've never heard anyone say it was intrusive.” As perennial.all said, in my area it seeds prolifically, and to my mind it is fine for a wilder garden, but I ripped my single plant out 15 years ago and I still find plants hiding under bushes, growing in the field, sprouting in the veggie garden. It has prolific seeds that have a long life in the soil in this part of the country. It is welcome to the field, but I don’t leave it in the tamer areas of my property.