Thanks :D Actually Mo_girl Nasturtium were one of the last to germinate this year. This here one is from Jewel Mix and it germinated May 11 and just got planted...thats SLOW! The Empress of India has 1 weak seedling and the Tip-Top Velvet has done nothing. All of them were sown on April 16th. In total all I have is only 4 of these Jewel Mix 1 from Empress of India...I'm sad LOL! The African Daisy is in a spot that is VERY rocky/sandy and in full sun. I know it's not the same as the Venidium species of AD but I sure hope it likes the same growing conditions. Personally I've never gotten Cleome to grow like it should. My first time they got swallowed up by mature plants and last year they had space but were stunted all season. This year I planted the seedlings in better amended soil. I believe these can grow as much as 3-4' across and from 4-5' tall. I didn't give them that much room so I guess I'll find out soon! I'm going to get a hold of the native from out this way called Rocky Mountain Bee Plant which is probably better suited to our drier conditions and soil...Cleome serrulata. It doesn't smell good and is known as Stink Flower, but it attracts lots of pollinators. Cypress Vine just died out on me last year, but so far this year they look much healthier :D Becky, I had my share of poor germination and 0 germination is several containers too. Salvia's for me have always been poor expect of for Salvia officinalis (re-seeds too) and annual S. hormonium (re-seeds sporadically). Yvonne's never germinated for me last year and this year I had to sow a few times to get these ones. Also had poor germination (between 1 and 6 sprouts, but mostly in between) with all the Celosia (Value Seed and trade), Amaranthus tricolor (trade), Calendula (Value Seed and trade), Scabiosa (sown twice; my own), Ageratum (Value Seed), Gazania (trades), Datura (white), Dahlia (trade), Lupine (trade), Malva (trade) and annual Verbena, burgundy. I had 0 percent germination in Datura 'Golden Queen' (Value Seed), Monopsis debilis (Value Seed), Cosmo, dwarf white (trade), Profusion Zinnia (my own), Beaudry's Giant Zinnia (trade), Prairie Dropseed (trade), Silver Feather Grass (commercial trade), Cuphea ( Value Seed), Lab Lab (trade) and Sweet Pea (Value Seed).

maryl- The roses are double knockouts and Gingersnap is the orange one. I have bought lilies locally at nurseries each spring for years. I just plant the bulbs and throw out the packages, never mark anything. This year and last year I bought on line but last year even then I did not mark my lilies. So this year at least I started keeping track. But all those planted in my rose gardens are NO IDs for me. I think its just one of the Asiatics I bought in the mixed color bags. I got some of those each spring for years before I started branching out to diffent colors and types. I don't even remember the orange one next to the yellow blooming last year! There is something magical to me about the roses and lilies combined. I love my roses and I truly love lilies but put them together and wow, they just do so well together. I have lilies planted all around between my roses. Yesterday I was out cutting back the roses in my rose bed that runs along side the house. The lilies are blooming strongly there as the rose flush is winding down. After I neatened things up the bed started looking so much better as the focus was now turned from the spring flush of roses (glorius while it lasted but pretty much done) to the bloom of the companion lilies. It makes the rose bed interest last past the spring flush for me.

I am so happy to see your pictures again! I was here back then, but mostly lurking, which I still do a lot because I am not very good about id-ing my plants since the dogs destroyed my labels and I gave up There are a few I know the names of, but not too many. You were one of my secret mentors when I started my hosta planting! I am sorry your 'When I Dream' was a disappointment, but there is so much to love about your gardens! Thank you for that!!!

[DH guest reply] Yes, the island is 64". The overhang is 12", and the corbels are 12 1/2"L x 10 1/4"W. The corner sink drain is fine. Surprisingly, the water really doesn't splash when it hits the metal, and the sink is over 12" from the top of the counter (very deep). That's probably a function of the aerator more than the sink / drain location, as the water doesn't feel highly pressurized coming out. While we're on sinks, there are two things I should point out that are difficult about ours: (1) I'm the DH, and at 6' tall, I have to bend my back quite a bit to do dishes in the deep sink. That's a downside of the deep sink that I haven't heard mentioned on this forum. And in case you're wondering, no, this doesn't mean I'm off the hook for dish duty :) Overall I still like the sink, as we do get all the goodness that comes with a deep sink (hides dirty dishes, etc.), but it's a detail that tall people should be prepared for. (2) I nixed a dedicated sprayer as well as a pull-down spray faucet, because we couldn't find ones that we thought were as pretty or gave as nice and uncluttered a look as only having the non-spray faucet we chose. In hindsight, that was a mistake. A sprayer (probably a pull-down to keep the uncluttered look) would have been really nice for cleaning the sink itself - the sink depth makes for a lot of cleanable surface area on the sides, and that would go much easier with a sprayer. As for paint, it was Benjamin Moore oil based paint, and we had the cabinets hand painted post installation. Hand painting is pricey, but provides beautiful, old-fashioned detail. We struggled with the choice of oil paint a lot, as the fumes are nasty for the environment. But everyone in the biz we talked to said that oil paint holds up so much better against the beating that cabinetry takes. So I convinced myself (not necessarily rightly) that it's environmentally sound to choose quality materials that last more than a few years. And, 4 years later, I can definitely vouch for the quality of the paint. We're in the kitchen a ton, cooking from scratch as well as eating in it, then cleaning the cabinets with a sponge, etc., and you'd have to look pretty closely to know it's not brand new paint. If you do look closely, you'll see some small scratches / chips right on the corners of many of our most used drawers & doors.