After years of growing various herbs, thyme is the one that has always been dependable, available, and trouble free, as long as I grow it in a pot in adequate sun. I have never been left without it when I go to make my favorite spaghetti sauce. (I can't say the same for oregano, despite its cooperative growth and overwintering abilities). Lemon verbena, despite its weediness, would be my second pick, as I am never without a healthful tea as long as it is anywhere on my property. Since it is so helpful in chest congestion, which is a recurrent concern for me, white horehound is my third must-have herb. Since it can be used in candy (it is very bitter otherwise), I guess it can skitter into the culinary category. I have had it overwinter in the same large pot on the north side of my home for two winters now with minimal attention. The above are the ones I have always been able to rely on; the least demanding, and the most useful to me. They have never died on me from lack of attention or hardiness, or from insect damage. I love basil and cilantro, but have had little luck with them, as they sicken and die on me because I cannot provide enough sun or consistent moisture. Sage grows well for me, but I have found that it is almost as good dried as fresh, and can be purchased in large amounts for use in tea fairly economically. Bee balm comes back for me, but I hesitate to harvest my little stand of it for fear it will give up and not come back at all; additionally, in its early growth it greatly resembles the poisonous snakeroot, which some birds have sowed in my garden. Lovage grew well for me the first year I planted it, but never again. I live close enough to several grocery stores to purchase as much celery as I want whenever--and celery is a staple that stores well. Etc.

I've made many topiary frames for very little money and they have lasted for years. I used wire I got for free from a timber yard, lighter-gauge wire (not expensive) and heaps of heavy-duty hot-melt glue (the kind you use with a heated 'gun' - they are cheap at craft or hardware stores and well worth buying -get plenty of the glue sticks). To form round balls I used old wires from lampshade frames - you can buy these new in craft shops if necessary - and cobbled them together with wire twist ties to get the shape roughly right, then smothered the joins with hot-melt glue. Then I wound lighter wire around the frames to establish a framework for the ivy stems to be tied to and to keep the shapes nice and rounded, touching the joining places with a good dob of glue to keep it in place (hold it still afterwards to allow the glue to set before you go on to the next step and be careful not to burn your fingers - those guns are HOT and the glue can give you a nasty burn. Keep the kids away while you are doing this bit - you need to concentrate!). If I was making a standard I fitted a stake or bamboo up through the middle. Simple. To make tall cones I used a graduated selection of circles - again old lampshade wire circles - and hot-glued them to straight, heavier wires (or bamboo stakes) in a tripod shape. Make generous u-shaped bended wire pieces to anchor the bottom ring into the potting mix. As sculptures they would never have won any prizes for looks but they did the job and cost very little except effort and ingenuity (and one purchase of a cheap glue gun)' Keep your eyes peeled for flea market hanging baskets - for my daughter's wedding I created a series of hanging 'balls' made of two wire baskets (cheapest I could find) wired together to make a (sort of ) ball shape each of which I then planted up with dangly things like lobelia, ivy geranium, pansies, etc etc but which could equally well be planted with just ivy. If you=re lucky and the original chains are still intact you don't even have to make a hanger! The important thing is - plenty of nourishment (I always mix water-retaining crystals and fertiliser granules in with the potting mix) and daily waterin hot drying weather. Trim the ivy regularly too and it will bush up quickly. Some people say the ivy gets woody and needs to be disarded - I found over 15 years that regular care kept mine going fine. And it's very therapeutic! Also - I'm a worm-farm fanatic and the 'worm tea' is the best thing ever for fertilising container plants, and after the expense of setting it up you just recycle your food and organic scraps and the dear little worms do the rest...forever. Enjoy!!!!

I have what appears to be a very vigorous ivy topiary with lots of green healthy leaves on the bottom ball. The runners are very long and I need to know how to get them to the top ball which is very sparce - it had a case of mites that have been eradicated. It seems like the runners that have been wound around the vertical frame have had the leaves taken off. How do I go about "weaving" it around, under or through the top ball frame. I tried but it doesn't look very good - I'm hoping someone can give me some instructions. Thank you so much, Bella

Thanks, Lisa--it took long enough! The designing, that is. Like a year or more. I like the second picture a lot. The cabinet hardware is casual and the same color as the boards, so it all does look finished and intentional. The first picture is more formal of the cabinets, but the books and oatmeal make it more casual. The boards would look fine as they are, all a-tilt, if the cabinet were finished. As it is, it looks like the door is missing. If that opening were trimmed out flush with the doors/drawer fronts, it would look vastly better. The second one doesn't have that issue because the cabinets are inset. I think it will function for you just fine. But...don't you have a 4.5" gap? Or is that without considering the box? I thought you meant a 4.5" space within the box like SJHF, which is why I was encouraging you to do a pullout. If it's 4.5" including the box, and therefore a 3" gap, you're right that the open space makes the most sense, with or without a door. (I had one with door in a previous kitchen and it was right handy. )