I see places/people that sell S. darcyi seeds, but I got a plant from Bustani Plant Farm. I'm very high on their plants, and they are as reasonable as you will find. I think Rich Dufresne, A World of Salvias, has 3.5" pots for $5. He is very prominent in the Salvia industry and appears frequently on the Salvia Forum here. If you have questions, there are a ton of knowledgeable people there. I kind of have to discount the Californians - sorry if I offend anyone - because our growing conditions are so different from them, even tho they are the native Salvia capital of the US. S. darcyi has some of the biggest flowers of any of the Salvias, and they are a bright, bright red. Supposedly hardy to our zone, it will be tested this winter. I have never been really happy with anything from Plant Delights. I know, I know, lots of people love them, etc. But Bustani has given me much better plants that survive better as well. You almost have to be there at exactly the right time to collect Salvia seeds. I will try to save some for you. I have been trying to grow S. subrotunda from seed, without success, for 2 years now. I get mine from Sample Seed Shop for $2 a packet. The guy in Arkansas usually has a lot of Salvias for sale as well, and fairly well priced, altho he has gone up a lot in the last 2 years. Dogwooderitternet? There is also a lady at taste.ecrater.com that sells a number of Salvia seeds, but her seeds are expensive. Specialty Perennials also sells a number of Salvia seeds, but not S. darcyi. They do, however, have S. penstemonoides, which I would really like to have, too. But, check out Rich's site. It is fun to go thru his list if nothing else. Susan Here is a link that might be useful: A World of Salvias

This is kinda hard to even think about. There is Tuscany - the place and a completely different Tuscany - the style in the USA. Mixed in with that imagery is generic "Italian" even when it resembles beef-a-roni. I can't imagine polished marble being desirable in a kitchen due to slippage. Tuscany - the place in my head says warm colors, slightly faded, easy care, honest materials, simple designs - not necessarily "olde worlde". Perhaps, it is the way pictures of actual kitchens in tuscany feel to me. Tuscany - the style says imitation, fake exposed brick or distressed walls, gold everything, majolica, heavy use of heavy tile and possibly fake beams, all cabinet design is "olde worlde" and also usually fake distressed. I'm not against "fake" by any means. I have stuff that is fake distressed. It's just descriptive. My mind blanks on polished marble flooring in either Tuscany the place or the style. The only "authentic" redo I've ever been in was a nice second generation italian couple who spent a fortune redoing their home - lots of bronze fixtures, green tinted plaster walls in the kitchen, terracotta tints everywhere else, nice dark carved cabinets, some honed marble and tile counters - and plain earthenware tile floors. No shiney marble at all. It was great and felt like another world full of rich dark color. My suggestion would be to go to a mighty big book store and look through some books on tuscan style and look at the flooring.

I just wanted to thank you all for taking the time to answer me. Your responses really helped. The wood floors are all original oak, except for in the kitchen, where we think they are pine (and never meant to show, but we stripped them anyway!) I actually have high gloss finish in the kitchen, by accident. See, we did the LR and DR floors in 2001 and used semi-gloss and a medium stain. In 2003, we did the kitchen and stripped the floors and I bought high-gloss poly by mistake, and didn't realize it until it dried! I do like it, very much. But I just wondered, in that big expanse of my LR and DR, would the high gloss finished be too much gloss, know what I mean? My instincts tell me to go for it, but I still have some doubts. We definitely need a new topcoat, though. I don't want to ruin the floors! I did cover up the floors partially in the LR when my daughter started to walk. It's just a carpet remnant, no pad underneath, but I think I should keep it for the kids for now. I wasn't thinking how the hardwood floors would work out with babies! Here are some updated pictures of the house. Since I took those pictures on the pbase site in 2004, we've done a few more updates - new fence, stripped/sanded/painted the front porch gray (and I'm still working on the trim, that's why there are no new pics of the front porch - but it looks so much better!), and totally finished the basement. WHEW! And two babies in that time, too. :) Thank you all for your complements and opinions! I think I might try the high gloss. Here is my site with the older/remodeling pics: http://www.pbase.com/yellowduck and here are the current house pictures, minus the front porch: Here is a link that might be useful: The house

Glad you brought this up. I'm wondering if it's wise to use lip STAINS. I have used Maybelline 'Superstay'. The stain is in one end of the applicator and a sort of 'Chapstick-like' moisturizer is in the other end. The color does last a LONG time.