Susan, It was the common orange-flowered one called buttefly weed (Asclepias tuberosa). I have grown it several times and it doesn't like ANY of my soil. My sandy soil drains too quickly, my clay drains too slowly. It did incredibly well (raised from seed) in a raised bed in the veggie garden a couple of years ago. There it got huge, bloomed all summer long and seemed perfectly happy, but it didn't come back the following year. (It was a dry winter, and I don't water the veg garden in the winter, so maybe it got too dry?) Ironically, it grow wild along the roadside on a country road about 1/3 mile south of us, growing up and down the fenceline. Turn onto our road, though, and you'll see one or two of them a short distance from that other road, and then no more. I think the clay just gets thicker and more dense once you turn onto our road, and the farther north you go in our direction, the worse the clay gets. Sometimes, if I break new ground, I'll get volunteers of the pink-flowered milkweed that has big, tropical-looking leaves, but I haven't broken any new ground lately and haven't had it the last few years. And in the pasture we have the Antelope Horns Milkweed everywhere. Ilene, We always have tons of Johnson grass too, and I pull it out of the beds all the time, but most especially when it has just rained. I hate the stuff and it is EVERYWHERE here...in every yard, every pasture, every bar ditch, and along every fenceline. Ironically, our land that we bought and built our home on was part of the Johnson Farm for many years AND, of course, it is on Johnson Road. (I need to ask the Johnson family if they got their family name from the Johnson grass that is so abundant here.) My common white datura reseeds in both clay soil and sandy soil, but the various hybrid ones with different colored flowers and double flowers are pickier and only reseed in sandier soil. The ones in sandier soil or in clay soil improved with compost grow larger, though, than the ones in unimproved clay. Here, the common white datura is known as jimson weed and often grows wild in pastures. I think you are having a pretty good garden year considering the rainfall you have experienced. You are very resilient and are quickly finding ways to work around the weather "challenges". Imagine how much fun it will be in an "average" year with normal rainfall! I do not think you are whiney at all. This forum is a great place to talk through ALL the challenges and successes, all the good times and bad, all the ups and the downs of gardening in Oklahoma. I honestly think that Oklahoma is one of the toughest places to garden because our weather changes non-stop. Where else in the USA can you go from ice to snow to rain to sleet to hail to tornadoes to drought to wildfire, etc......and all in one year or even in one month (sometimes it seems like it is all in one week!). I have seen rains so heavy that the roads flooded, and then the dry, dormant grasses went up in a blaze of wildfire a day or two later, and firefighters trying to fight the wildfires found their trucks stuck in the muds from the heavy rains. Living here is a challenge, and gardening is even more so. NO ONE understands it better than those of us who live here and garden here. I agree that the people on this forum rock! I have never seen a more agreeable, considerate, kind, giving and helpful group of people. On many forums you see a lot of "discussions" that turn into heated debates, and you see a lot of out-of-control egos that clash. We don't have that here, and I am so proud of our entire group of individuals on this forum. I think we can and do disagree with one another, but we are not disagreeable in the manner in which we do so. Sharon, I agree with you that we all are blessed to have our homes and gardens, even when they are giving us fits. I think we're blessed to have each other too. Susan, I had a lot of butterflies earlier in the season, but they have been fairly sparse lately. Maybe it is the wind....or lots of predators/diseases because we had a huge upsurge in population last year and that is always followed by predators/diseases and then a smaller population. (Just like the corresponding up and down population cycles of rabbits/coyotes.) This week I am beginning to see more, especially black swallowtails. Y'all our lovely day lasted until noon, and then the heat and humidity combined to make it miserable, along with the wicked mosquitoes. I've been inside for a couple of hours but hope to get back out in the yard after dinner. Dawn

I have a very large oval roaster (14" with handles) that barely fits in my GE now, and a small 1.5 qt oval Corning - as well as the 1.5qt and 2.5qt rounds. I will have to switch to the round casserole or my 10" long Pyrex baking dish (with Saran) for the weekly meatballs (and maybe 10 minutes instead of 7). I just didn't know if the lid would fit on the larger round or be too tall but I think it's just under 6". Is there any room to the sides of the turntable or is it tight? I think my Corelle plates are smaller than 11" - I only have 4 of them but that's what we use in the MW - my Pfaltgraff plates are 10.5" but I don't like to put stoneware in the MW since they are second-hand (eBay and thrift to find made in USA) and I don't know if they've been soaked, could crack. I've got some mugs that have crazed since I've had them (only a few years), and my old set (again, second hand) did craze when I put them in MW, my cousin's have actually cracked but she lets hers soak in the sink - I always use the DW. I went to Lowes tonight and they didn't have it in stock, said I could order it and they'd have it in 2 weeks, could always return it if it was too small. Haier 0.7cf seemed flimsy. So thanks for the answers. I swear I had edited the original, but have 1 more question - is it heavy enough that it doesn't slide around when you open the door (since it doesn't have a button to pop it open, you have to pull on the edge)? Thanks

Amanda, I think the heart pine will give you enough contrast with your other woods that it would be fine for the floor, if you want a wood floor, and it'll certainly go with the Colonial house. If you want tile, which will be colder, though very easy to care for, consider 1'x2' French pavers. They're a light terra cotta, and very traditional in kitchens. The antique ones are very expensive, but there are new ones of the type being made now. For authentic Colonial, I think a gray slate kind of look would be more on point, but it would make your kitchen look dreary, whereas the light clay look of the French pavers would be cheery and should go with your big brick hulk. :) Even though you've spec'd a lot of wood, with the painted section, and the windows, and the brick fire surround, and the flow into the dining room, I think you have enough relief that you can go a bit wild in the kitchen with the woods and get away with it. Especially with all the different kinds and colors you've chosen, which provide you with contrast and interest. You have the whole warm side of the color wheel (i.e., analogous colors) -- to throw some logic at you. :) Floor: yellow-brown (I'd go natural on them. They'll age to a really nice honey color.) Cabinets: red-brown Island top: dark red-brown Beams: charcoal-brown Hood: orange-brown For hue and brightness contrast you have the silver-gray stainless counters and the white cabinets. You can do window treatments whose main job is to bling up your black hole windows at night. There are slat blinds that have art painted on them, for instance. You could do a lacy shade. Or something baroque and flocked. Shades are pretty inexpensive, and can be changed out when you get tired of them. And they don't get into the soup, and hide pretty well when they're up. You can even do clear vinyl and let your kids paint on them for each season, then wash them off and start over. One of the great things about all of your colorblocking is that you don't really need a lot of bling to make the kitchen lively. Add in the detritus of family life and you're there. Plus, you also have hardware (i.e., jewelry) to choose. You can go simple and demure, in a silvery color to go with the stainless counters, but you could do art glass or wild granite knobs, colored resin bar pulls, Anne At Home theme hardware, or whatever suits your fancy. Some hardware looks dumb in some settings, but I think your kitchen can take a lot of interest without feeling overdone. I mean, how much bling do you want?

I am back, having gone into "radio silence" for a while to digest this, play with sample boards, and repair some other parts of my house. This thread is almost at 150 entries!! That is represents some extreme generosity of the GW community on my behalf! I am really humbled and honored. However, as a practical matter, the thread is out of room and I still haven't decided! I am going to start a new thread, and link to it in the next post of this thread. I will use the rest of this thread to get caught back up, to recapitulate the most promising ideas and show you what I have been up to! Catching up: OB2B (11/12@7:52). Oh, those are pretty. I wonder just how $pendy they are. Your photoshop job is so nice. Do you think it looks too busy, or is it small enough a pattern to become just a texture? BellaJ: the walls are SW 6676 Butterfield. If anyone is interested, here is how I arrived at that color. Interesting observation on the tile size. Hmmm, Complete Tile does offer all of their tile in 3x3... I continue to like your "diamonds with decos" concept, as you will see below. And thanks for the Houzz info and images. I also like that decorative band. Veevs, thanks for the vote. EAM: Re: kitchens from the 20's having plain walls/wild floors: Yes, you are correct. I had been made aware of that during a thread trying to choose my floor. Also, I have a book from 1935 called "C.B. Smith's Home Owner's Handbook" that I rely upon for some period-appropriate information, and that confirmed what you say. Also, here are a few good GW threads: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg1110391922585.html http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg1120450213517.html So, yes, I am committed to not having too wild a wall. (I originally was going to do a two-color hopscotch pattern! Fortunately, I got talked down from the ledge.) raee: I pretty much agree with you. I am fairly well resigned to painting the walls. And those tiles need to be warmer, I agree. EAM: Re: the hex mosaics. Oooh, pretty! I like that, although I am worried about the busy-ness. I am going to put that in my second-tier list of options. (Casey, aka sombreuil mongrel, used Rojo Alicante on HIS red/tan checkerboard floor!)