Nasturtiums are supposed to repel cucumber beetles. See http://www.gardentoad.com/companionplants.html Plant Name Companion to: What It Is Believed To Do (Good & Bad) Nasturtiums Cucumber, Squash, other vegetables, fruit trees. Repels aphids,cucumber beetles,whiteflies and squash bugs. Acts as trap crop for aphids. Repels borers near fruit trees. Here is a link that might be useful: Companion Plants

The problem here is you don't know what's wrong, and so you go to replacing stuff that doesn't need replacing, and fixing stuff that doesn't need fixing. The truth is - we've all done the same thing at one time or another. It's the way untrained mechanics get things done, or not. I used to supervise large construction projects, and we had a lot of heavy equipment. We also had a full time "backyard mechanic" to fix the small things that went wrong. Once he worked on a 20 ton yard crane for three days trying to get it to run. I finally realized he had no idea what was wrong, and called Cummings diesel. The guy came out and in less than 30 minutes found the problem. I learned something that day. I learned it's easy to fix the stuff you know is broke, but sometimes when you don't know what it is - it's better to take it to someone who has seen it before, like a dealers service department, as hard as that is to take - it might turn out to be cheaper.

To CorpsmanCooper: It's been years since I went to Springfield Nursery, but when I went, I got the impression that it is geared to commercial landscapers. I went to Calos Nursery, too...just once. At least they have some interesting statuary. Certainly Walmart doesn't sell a huge concrete triceratops. :-) I've ordered plants online with mixed results. I have two grape vines which grow vigorously and produce lots of grapes every year regardless of whether I care for them at all. But I have no idea what they are, since they are definitely NOT the ones I ordered. They do make tasty jelly, though. On the other hand, I also got my Dorsett Golden and Anna apple trees online, and they have been great. I've gotten other plants that did well, and others that were DOA or died quickly. (Some probably died to my mistakes.) Generally I have had good luck with seed orders. I've always had high germination rates and never had anything obviously mislabeled. To Kayjones: I'd like to know about your local nursery haunt, too. With 4 kids (3 in school + a preschooler), going to out of town nurseries is a rare thing for me. I'm really interested in finding a good local place.

thanks, everyone. I couldn't get back into the site,it shut me out and I couldn't find my password; finally did. trilobite, what an interesting screenname you have! The boxes don't have to come out. I found quakehold and it looks like the museum putty variety of Quakehold might be my best bet; the boxes don't sit flat on the drawer surface because the edges are lower than the middle of the box, so maybe a glob of putty will work. I tried dowels before, although I didn't have the exact kind I wanted, and they slipped all the time. bspofford, we are out in the country and aren't close even to a Walmart. I tried some of that mesh for drawers earlier also, and it didn't hold the boxes I had in the kitchen drawers at all. claire, I looked at the dividers you recommend. They get some really bad reviews, as you may have seen, but I'm going to give them a try if the museum putty doesn't work. and camlan, I guess if all else fails I'll try the liner again and see if maybe it's gotten better since I last tried it three years ago. OR -- I was talking to my next-door neighbor about this and she says she has no dividers and no boxes in her drawers, just cosmetics, kitchen things, etc., and none of them ever move around because she is very very careful to open the drawer slowly and close it the same way so nothing moves. I could never do this and wouldn't even try; it would make me crazier than I already am! Thank you so much, everybody. I at least have some things to try now. And thanks for wishing me luck.