Toni, the ants are usually crowded inside the nests but "pour out" if the nest's disturbed in any way. It's a good trick to always be in the lead when hiking here. The first person to brush past a nest gets them out and the next person brushing past gets covered in them. It's funny watching someone desperately trying to get a backpack off along with clothing to get rid of the ants. I've provided that sort of "amusement" many times for my walking companions, as they have for me. No one really takes it seriously, apart from the ants. I don't keep any plants indoors at home, they stay out all year. But no matter how much you try, there's always all sorts of bugs and spiders getting into the house, they don't wait for transportation by pot plants. A lot of spiders live in the soil, some near the surface but others burrow deeper. Generally I don't worry about them, I'm more interested in what they are rather than where they are. Over the years I've found spiders, scorpions and centipedes in my bed, but I just evict them. They can go buy their own bed, LOL. Horti, that's interesting about the Harvester Butterfly. Butterflies aren't usually associated with being carnivores, but yet there are are dining quietly away. What happens when one visitor to the garden meets another visitor to the garden?

I know what you mean, about people not noticing--or if they do notice, it's a "that's nice" kind of thing, no curiosity about this plant or that rose, etc. I guess it's the difference between gardeners and non-gardeners. I notice everything about someone's yard and garden--what they use for edging, what plants they have growing, whether or not they weed, prune and deadhead, various color combinations, and so on. I think we garden folks are hardwired to do that. It's not that I need the approval or a pat on the head for my own garden--I simply find it hard, as an outdoors-and-nature lover, to understand how so many people never seem to care about the visual feasts in front of them--my husband never notices the house nearby that has a hillside of orange poppies that are absolutely breathtaking every May, or the crowds of wildflowers in the unmowed road margins--I am forever pointing out such things. Of course, I never notice the classic cars that pass us by on the road, while he's admiring them and pointing them out to me (and telling me how many cylinders the engine has, or what year they ended production of that model--YAWN!).

Mike Lee (Colvos Creek) has told me of a plant or planting of 'Howard' in a Seattle garden going back many years. A short time ago this cultivar was carried by more than one local garden center. While still in a 5 gallon pot it seems a reduced size version of the Arctostaphylos manzanita ('Dr. Hurd'?) with greenish leaves and dark bark that is here and there elsewhere in Seattle (if these are, in fact, all the same form). WESTERN GARDEN BOOK has 'Howard' rated Sunset 7 (Rogue Valley, Sierra Foothills) and 'Sunset' rated Sunset 6 (Willamette Valley) so whoever worked on that section apparently didn't think these would be tender up here, but rather would find the summer too cool. (If anything, Sunset 6 is consistently colder in winter than Sunset 5, with the Oregon portion of Sunset 7 at least not being too much different in this respect). I did see some 'Howard' at Emery's Garden loaded with that goofy earlike leaf gall, like you sometimes see on A. urva-ursi.

Why not look into one of the honed granites. I would stay away from Absolute Black honed, but there are some other beautiful ones, like Virginia/Jet Mist & Ocean Green, or even Nordic Black which give you the look of soapstone without the concerns of it being chipped or scratched. On a personal note, I have soapstone (Green Mountain Original) and I don't baby it at all, and it's been fine. It doesn't etch and is impervious to staining, and I rarely oil mine but like it both ways. If you shop around and find one of the harder varieties you may find you love it. It's not nearly as hard as granite, but it never has to be sealed either. If you do visit the kitchens forum do a search for some of the honed granites people have used and you may find you fall in love with one of those. I have a friend with marble and it does etch, so if you will have an area in the kitchen that won't be used for much prep work maybe you could consider using it as an accent. I really love the look of tiger maple so that's what I did, I put it on a small hutch as an accent. Linked below is a "too die for" kitchen with Ocean Green honed and the stone yard may not be horribly far from you either, not sure, but I know she loved working with them! Good luck! Kat :) Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen with honed Ocean Green Granite