Yes - I'd go for Vinca minor for no.5 too. Especially since all the others are the same kind of hardiness and Trachelospermum is not. I'm with FataMorgana on the Melissa and the Nepeta. redthreaddiy - you might know the Hylotelephiums as Sedums. But what on earth is that 'Like a petunia' thing? Leaves are wrong for Salpiglossis and Alstroemeria. Any other ideas anyone?

Someone asked about hardwood being laid at an angle. Hubby did that in our library. We also added a border all in the same wood in the ladies parlor. This next photo was taken from the ladies parlor looking into the library. And this is my wonderful hubby installing the floor in the gentlemen's parlor. The pictures too small to see the border around the hearth. And here's the sunroom. It opens up to the Gentlemen's parlor, the floors go at right angles to each other, but I don't have a photo of that online. Our upstairs hallway is in the same wood as the floors above. It has a turn in it. I thought the each end of the hallway should have the floors going lengthwise so I asked if he could try to do log cabin (as in the quilt) corners. And he did. I'll try to take a photo tomorrow, but right now our grandson is asleep in the room that opens from the corner of the hallway.

Solid wood flooring is usually 3/4" thick when installed. The necessary sanding removes about 1/16" to 1/8", leaving the flooring a bit over 1/2" to 5/8" thick. Rehabbing badly dinged/worn flooring can take 1/4" off. Most flooring specs say less than 3/8" thick is not acceptable for good performance. Sanding,dying/staining, and finishing will take three days minimum per room and the rooms have to be emptied. A room a week is probably the least invasive. The cost is probably going to be higher to refinish as well. Also, the odds of matching prefinished flooring colors with on site staining/dying are not good. The colors and the finishes will be different, and the prefinished color is probably a recipe of at least three colors. You will also have a difference in wearability between the prefinished(harder finish) than site finished flooring. And, the flooring you have now will probably be different room to room with the same colorants. I installed unfinished maple flooring in our current house and the process took a week and a half. We had not moved in(bought it as a foreclosure) so all that work was done with an empty house. Had we needed to move to clear each room(3Bd, LR, DR, 2 halls, kitchen)---add two weeks. So, unfortunately for you(and I LOVE old floors because of the character), installing new will be better/quicker/cheaper.

I was about to suggest looking at a low grade White Oak with a light stain. White Oak in a character or rustic grade will have all of these knots and heavy grain variations in a MUCH lower price tag than hickory (like 1/2 the price). Be careful with knots....they are "sock catchers" or "splinter producers" in really cheap wood. It takes a master craftsman to get a knotty wood into place, sanded, patched, stained and finished without producing a hot mess of a floor. People who have cheaped out on the labour have found out, to their horror, that the knots ruin socks, bare feet, dog's paws and those same knots will "pop out" leaving gaping holes in their floor! Buyer beware! And a character grade hickory can look like this - all by itself. But it is a bossy wood (as much as I love the variation). I have to agree with Sophie....it will be the Diva in the house. It will surpass "Star" by several degrees of magnitude.