Hi there, I started doing the same buckwheats you mentioned as well as some others and this is the 3rd season for some. The St. Catherine's Lace are already about 4 feet tall and came through winter with all their leaves in tact as well as buds for this season's flowers. I have one variety that I believe is fasciculatum and is about 4 feet tall with pom pom type flowers that last all season and start out light pink and go to white and then rust. Since I started planting the buckwheats I seem to be seeing more of the smaller butterflies like the blues and grays. This winter I also tried covering some of the less hardy plants like the lantanas and they did very well so I have added a bunch more. Actually, the ones I didn't cover survived the winter cold well also. I have worked so hard the past couple of weeks digging and composting and weeding and planting so I also hope it will be a great butterfly summer. Last week I saw my first Gulf Frit which is a record for me as the earliest I have ever seen one in the past was July and some years not until one or two passed through in the fall. Like you I am probably going to grow some food for me too. The money is scarcer and scarcer and I get hungry too. I was blessed to have my now 12 year old german shepherd still with me which is an answer to prayer since he has bad arthritis in his knees and needs meds to be able to walk. But he is a trooper like his old man. (I flatter myself!) My pipe vine has definitely taken off big time and is coming up everywhere. And I have a great supply of passionvines of the caerulea persuasion. Where do you get your porter weed and what uses the cuphea? By the way, Misssherry, the lead you gave me on securing Sonset Lantana paid off very well. I got the plants on Saturday in great condition and already planted them. Now I realize that the flowers that I have been admiring in my lantana beds were the ones I got through you years ago. I couldn't tell because I planted them all together. I also decided to try a couple of others they had too so we'll see how they do. Thanks so much. Murray

Welcome to Arkansas- don't worry about the snakes and such- you'll get used to them- We moved to North Central Ark about 12 years ago from Wisconsin and have never regretted it- Be prepared to wave a lot when out driving- for some reason everyone waves at every one else- and don't ever think that you can just "run" in the store to pick up something quick- people here like to talk- a LOT. I have been known to spend over an hour getting a loaf of bread!!! It's nice though- if you ever find yourself stranded on the road people will stop to help no matter what the weather! We live outside the very small town of Salem and it took our 2 older children some time to fit in with the locals but when they did they found friends for life- our 2 youngest were born here and I wouldn't raise them anywhere else- If you have ever heard jeff Foxworthy talk about rednecks you know what its like here!!! ( most of what he says is true) As far as the bugs and such- no different from anywhere else, Jonesboro does have a lot of mosquitoes though because of the rice fields. We get copperhead snakes once in a while- usually when they are out sunning themselves- they are not aggressive so if you leave them a lone they will leave you alone- we get a lot of black snakes too- they are good but they can get big so they seem scary- the biggest one we had here was about 7 feet long. We also have a lot of Armadillos that like to dig holes so watch for them- we generally just chase them off because we're not sure how to kill them. Where we live though our biggest pest is the squirrel- we have hundreds of them and they will eat anything- one year they dug up over 100 tulip bulbs that I had just planted- That is about all I can think of- the people here are great- none better anywhere. I hope you enjoy the area as much as we do. God Bless

Well I'm back, and I searched around a bit more but still couldn't find the KW plate hanging I really liked -- it was nothing like the one I linked. In general, I don't care for plate hanging, but flyleft, I remember seeing in a magazine one she'd done which looked so random, so sinuous. The plates almost made the shape of a seahorse (not literally), but meandering this way and that, and they were hung much closer together than one ordinarily sees hanging plates. Anyway, I noticed it and the image really made an impression on me. I've no doubt there have been countless others who've done equally if not more interesting plate hangings, but they don't have the same loud, good PR she evidently does .... And I know what you mean about the price on those boxes! It's scandalous. Honest to goodness I cannot imagine spending $4,000 on a tabletop bibelot -- that $4,000 would have to purchase the table and chair, too! And help pay for children's activities .... I saw the pink one in a spread (maybe it was Domino?) on her guest house, and, as I wrote, I'm such a pink-lover that I zeroed in on it -- the color caught me eye. But I really loved the idea of it. I have a few little (teeny) silver boxes encrusted with a blob of amber, of malachite, turquoise, coral, etc. I guess it's in my DNA to be attracted to rocks on boxes! I wonder if that's the same piece you saw, because the wallpaper was (to my taste) revolting. The rooms reminded me of the worst of the '70s, all come to roost in one spot. Yech. But I did love that box! Here's a link to that article.) Ta-da! Here's the box: I was just noodling around her website, looking at her residential projects for that plate hanging, and I have to say most everything looked really tasteful and lovely. The only one which looked over-the-top was her home, Hillcrest House, and I kinda liked it in a Tony Duquette way. (I still cannot believe that crazy Sharon Stone got to live next door to Tony Duquette and that he made her jewelry. So unfair!) So I guess except for her guest house I like her stuff. Go figure!

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE KIND WORDS! I knew you TKOers would get my sentiment here. Funny, the only other "person" I have told this to is hubby and he was happy for me...he ain't really into cookware or cooking, but he was happy that I was happy. HA! My kitchen remodel is 90% done and when I finally finish it, I will post pics. I think the before and after pics might blow your socks off.....mainly cause the before was just so dog gone hideous!!! I'll also eventually weigh in on how I like my new induction cooktop. Point is...I've been gaining alot of info and insights from this group, and soon I hope to be giving back.