That's a good rule of thumb to remember, carolyn, thanks. I'll have to remember that next fall. Four feet is just about the height I wanted, terrene. I have been able to grow parsley from seed for the past three years and it keeps coming back. I love the airy flower heads when they bloom. I was hoping Dill would be similar. I also like the taste of Dill added to salads etc. I didn't know they were fragrant. I had a lot of Bronze Fennel and ripped most of it out. I didn't see any seedlings around the yard last year, so I'm going to start them again. I enjoy those too. I think I read somewhere that Ruta grows well in part shade. I have a lot of part shade, so it must have been on a list I ran across. You'll have to let us know how it does for you. It really does sound exciting to have results from your garden in the way of caterpillars etc. I really like taking a basically barren, grass and foundation shrubs, suburban garden and watching it turn into an ecological system that takes on a life of it's own. Not that I work hard at it, I don't, but just growing natives and not using chemicals does seem to make a lot of changes that are noticeable. I never saw a butterfly the first couple of years I lived here. You seem to work harder at it then I do, so I always enjoy hearing how it's all working out in your garden. :-)

Thanks for the replies. John, I think you're right. I have plenty of lady bugs and their larvae and parasitic wasps in the garden as well as the occasional preying mantis. I also have some tree frogs living in amongst the strawberries and would love to reintroduce some Western Toads. They use to live in the surrounding area before the housing developments went up and the vernal pools were drained. I'm lucky enough to have room for 5 raised beds, approx. 5'X12', so I can rotate crops each year. That way I'm not growing the tomatoes, squash, peppers, corn and beans in the same soil year after year... I just started growing my own winter veggies 3 years ago. Carrots, garlic, onions, lettuce, spinach and peas. It was actually the e-coli scare on spinach and bagged lettuce a few years back that got me started, not worry of pesticides. Funny, I never ate spinach until the year of the scare and now I don't think I could do without it.

you may want to get the entire building to adopt a change and address this. I agree with you completely on that issue, which is actually why I have liked the current setup in our bin--we are greatly motivated to unplug it. I don't want something that operates with a switch. Extension cords make me & DH antsy, and we won't go upstairs and leave them plugged in. In fact, right now we have to unplug it in order to close and lock the door, which is why I haven't yet just used cord slips to anchor the cord to the wall. And why I may never do that (but I have tried stick-on temporary cord clips, but putting the cord in and out each time we were down there was too much for them, and they were pulled or fell off the wall). I might try the Velcro idea, because it would be so fast to stick the cord up when we're working, and pull it back down when we're done. But you've also got me thinking that maybe I'll bring this issue up to the rest of the building, and ask them to show me their lighting setup for their storage closets/bins. (I'm the director in charge of electrical, which means I would have the authority to address this without seeming like a nosy person. And it explains why I am crabby at having people assume I am so stupid that I'd modify the actual wiring. With lamp cord, no less!!) And I can check to be sure that the other lighting setups are safe. Because at the receptacle the other day, I spotted someone's cord still plugged in. Nobody's bin was open, and nobody's light was on. So I unplugged it. That also gives me an opening to bring this issue up.

Not long ago DH and I went out for breakfast at a nice cafe. A young couple came along and were seated across from us. Both were on their cell phones the entire time. Even while they were eating they were both glancing at their phones every second and not talking very much. We thought it was both sad and funny....the constant compulsion to be on the phone and the fact that why even bother to go out to a nice restaurant to enjoy a meal and the ambience, when you're not really cognizant of either one. I have a coworker who has her cell phone out on her desk and texts/talks A LOT throughout the day. I might understand the need to have the phone nearby at all times it if she had underage children at home or school or elderly parents, but her kids are grown and married and her parents are long dead. She's buddy buddy with the supervisor so nothing is ever said. I was behind someone in the grocery checkout once who held up the line taking forever to pay because she was on her phone the whole time. Vowed if that ever happened again I would speak up and ask them to kindly get off the phone while conducting business as others are waiting. So clueless, rude, and self-centered! I honestly think with a lot of people it is an ego thing.....look at me, I'm so important I HAVE to be connected at all times. Look at all the junk on FB and Twitter.....does anyone really care that you just bought a pair of socks? I am not a litigious person, but if I was ever in an accident because the other person was talking/texting while driving I would sue big time. It's illegal in our state, but I doubt very many people get ticketed. If a call is that important, then pull over and take the call...don't put mine and everyone else's life in danger.