There are lots of garden nepetas and thier seeding tendencies vary widely. For me, most of them seed some, including Walkers Low and Six Hills Giant, though those 2 don't really seem problematic and the seedlings can be moved to other places. They are NOT generally invasive by spreading, since the plants are almost all clump forming. The exception is N. sibirica which does spread by underground stems. Then there are those that seed a lot and could be pesky if not in the right place. N. parnassica is a taller catmint for me that seeds a lot though is a very pleasant mid blue and blooms so long that noone except a very tidy gardener could dislike it. Tough to answer your question since catmints vary so widely in size and form. It does seem odd to me that a true Nepeta would be blooming now in zone 5 (seems way too early)-- but this has been an odd spring..... Digging Dog Nursery in CA has an outstanding selection of catmints. I think they are almost all great garden plants when used in the 'right' spots.

Hi Whiteoakian - gardening brings me much solace and joy too. A few thoughts on your questions... 1) Mostly I avoid tape. Duct tape is difficult to get off; clear plastic tape works okay when container is bone dry, but is still difficult to remove; masking tape probably wouldn't stay adhered to plastic containers. 2) My best guess is that the only seeds that need to be sowed early, are seeds that require cold stratification (or warm-cold). I can't think of any annuals that require it, so there's no need to sow any earlier than the temps they would normally sprout. Some annuals are very cold hardy, like Poppies and Snapdragons, so you can sow those pretty early 4) I've tried many different ways of making holes - an awl, ice pick, drill, and soldering iron. Haven't really found any easy way yet! 5) I have a Sowing Chart - I keep records on seed germination tests, Winter sowing, & Direct sowing...this year I've already sowed 3 containers (2 trees and 1 shrub) I guess that would be fall sowing. It is an Excel chart and looks like this. I've made a few edits since this pic. You or anyone else is welcome to a copy of blank chart -

Duh! Should have opened my eyes... on the end of my nose :S I'm thinking I should a) move the plant to a brighter location (it's presently near the kitchen door in low light) and b) water a bit more often (I was currently only watering once a month), and see how that goes. I looked the soil over carefully and it was reallllly dry. I removed one of the drooping stems to examine the roots and the ball was intact and very dry, so... perhaps it's a case of "not enough water" rather than too much? I'll follow this closely for a month of so and come back to report. Thanks to all of you for your support! YOU ROCK! :D

UGH! No there is not 3 dishwashers! Sorry! At one point when trying to be practical and when worried about our unconventional dining room idea, I asked the KD to try to squeeze in a 2nd dishwasher on the crowded sink wall to see if it was an option - and I didn�t realize the elevations still shows that version. Sorry! One dishwasher to left of sink and trash on the right. (wanted to replace the picture link but not sure if I can do that after posting w/o messing up the original message) Thanks to everyone for their comments � greatly appreciated! Couple of responses/comments/questions: To be clear, I would use the DW in the kitchen if we have company. The dining room one would be for everyday use for us and like-family neighbors (and holiday overflow when needed) but if we are entertaining I would certainly pull the dirty dishes back into the kitchen. I don�t need to use the DR DW just because it is there ;) We would have a quiet garbage disposal and a under the sink trash can as to not give up a cabinet for trash. While I whole-heartedly agree with bmorepanic about moving the margarita ingredients closer to the booze! We were also concerned about the fridge being so far away from the dining area (although we will use the island seating a lot!) The thought process was not to have something so massive in that corner, the first thing you see as you enter the house. The currently planned glass from cabinets are to soften the transition (I hope). And to put it there would require making the entrance to the dining room smaller - we want to promote the flow into the dining room and to utilize that sliding door to the much-used screened in porch, since we are closing off the 2nd existing door from the kitchen. Also when people are "living" in sunroom/brick room before a meal, they may also be invited to cut through work zone to the fridge from that direction. There seems no perfect answer. That corner location was considered for wall ovens, but we felt it distracted from the focal point of the range � which we wanted to look nice from the octagon/sun room and brick room family room. The post is structural and cannot be moved. The aisle widths are 45" between range and island and I believe 48"-50" between sink and island. The 40" sink base is pulled forward. The island is already 48" wide to reach the post.with the 12" overhang for seating. I love the idea of more space in corner, which I guess I could easily have with a smaller range � but then no oven and half � or extend the wall and make the entrance to dining room smaller as discussed above. They are just opening that wall into the dining room today and field measure is Thursday, so I will see if we can move everything down a bit. I really would like to have a prep sink � for all the reasons everyone mentioned � can anyone suggested another location? As DesertSteph metions it is close to the seating area (that may already be a little tight) and I feel it is in a prime serving location. As for windows on either side the range, a nice idea but we are already limited in upper cabinets give the open flow of the room (we actually closed in a 6 foot sliding door to porch to allow for the range) so hopefully the light from the adjacent octagon/sun room will be enough. Any thoughts on a walk in pantry? What is the smallest width to make it worth while? If not add more 16" deep pantry cabinets? Thanks everyone.