Milkweed are quite tolerant of sun and drought. Will the runoff from your gutter be washing over the seedlings once they are planted? I don't think they could survive that, especially if you get a heavy rain. These seedlings would prefer as much sun as possible, even all day. I would plant the incarnata plants at least 20 inches apart, and the tuberosa 15-18 apart. You could fill in the spaces in between with nectar-rich annuals such as zinnias, pentas, lantana, asters, etc. As your milkweeds mature and spread, you can expand your butterfly garden to continue to include more and more varieties of plants, if you want. You may not get any blossoms this year, so no seeds, either. I would encourage you to plant more seeds next year, just like you did this year. Once the Monarchs find your garden, you want to be sure you have plenty of food for any caterpillars you might be hosting. Also, females prefer to deposit eggs on young, tender leaves. I found most of my eggs on the very smallest new seedlings, rather than on the established plants that were blooming. I hope this helps. The butterflies don't care what your garden looks like, as long as you have what they need growing there. Make sure you can see it from a window or that you can sit somewhere comfortably to watch and enjoy any visitors. Good luck. Martha

Hi Krashking - Happy Easter! Do a search on amazing "Sweet Autumn" climbing Clematis and ask if it will do for your shaded site. Last year I frantically searched for a fast growing climber to cover an arbor to protect a Nikko Hrydrangea (lost her dappled shade from a huge Locust tree that we had to cut down). Also, I pass by a garden, on my way to work, with an arbor completely covered with white blooms (in June and again in Aug) like a bride's veil and with a beautiful scent to die for! So needless to say, I hunted for one and planted on the East leg of the arbor (that was July '06) in a month's time it grew bushier and climbed the arbor, 2-3 feet up and covered herself with tiny white Jasmine-scented florettes. This Clematis is an agressive grower and will need some upkeep, but not a problem, I was told. If you go to Vines or climbers in the GardenWed threads, you'll see some photos posted by lovers of this charming Clematis. Good luck :-) !!!

jessica, I agree with your idea about taking your cabinets all the way to the ceiling and not staggering them since you have 8' ceilings (mine are even lower -- only 7 1/2 feet). I also agree that stainless appliances can look great in a white kitchen and help to break up all the white. The second layout is much better than the first. It sounds to me that you'd be happy with all stained or a combo of stained and white. I originally planned on all stained, but over and over I was drawn to pictures of white kitchens. In the end I went with a mostly white kitchen with an island in a beautiful russet stain. Since you love both stained and painted, maybe you could do a stained perimeter with light colored laminate and a white island with Ikea butcher block? Are you getting a gas stove? Do you cook a lot? I agree with others who have recommended a real hood instead of a microwave hood, especially since this is your dream home. Unless you live in a flood zone and your budget will permit, I think you should go for the hardwood flooring. Good luck with your project ... I can't wait to see how it unfolds! Erika

Mine is 48 x 60". I didn't think you had room for anything more than 36" or 42" as shown in the first plan. I can't really tell for sure, but is your fridge on the end of the run on the right? Sorry, but that's terrible, especially with that island that is more of a challenge to get around. And if you think you'll fit seating on that side of the island, I'm afraid you'll be aggravated and disappointed. 39" for the aisle is 21" short of what's recommended to have seating backing up to cabinets that you'll want to access while people might be in the seats. I'm not a huge fan of upper corner cabinets hanging up there on their own, so would rather have it just be flat into the corner facing one way or the other...But I can see it balances the one on the other side, so I'm not sure what I'd do in that case...Probably not do diagonal faced cabinet in that corner either, but that may just be my personal preference. The sink and stove runs both look closer to what you'd wanted...But the fridge location and island shape seem to be big problems. I'd go back to the original island orientation and still would move that fridge toward the back wall, with it first in that line of tall cabs instead of last, so it lines up better with the work aisle.