I can only provide personal experience, but that is tempered with the fact that the PNW is likely the powdery mildew capital of the universe. LOL! If a plant is susceptible to PM in the slightest, there is a very good bet it will get it - our climate, specially in late summer, is just very predisposed to this problem. And so-called "resistance" is just that - resistance does not translate to immunity. Having said all that, 'Jacob Cline' is an excellent performer here. It seldom develops any problems, produces a tall, robust clump, is a dramatic, intense shade of red, flowers prodigiously even in part shade and has a long bloom season. And I'd hesitate to call any monarda "invasive". In the right conditions, they can be aggressive spreaders but they are easily removed where not wanted and are not considered invasive in the context of seeding freely or otherwise invading natural ecosystems to the detriment of native plantings. And if you are not familiar with it, The Sunset Western Garden Book has an excellent listing of deer resistant (there's that word again!) plants that are particularly well suited to west coast gardeners.

Ravel, it's good that you are continuing with your efforts to create a wildflower butterfly garden. The one thing you should not expect is for wildflowers to have the same performances as their ornamental relatives. That is because the plants we normally use in gardens have been improved over the years and therefore appear more spectacular. So expect this of most of your flowers. Next I do need to ask as to where you are located. Your location determines what sort of wildflowers will thive there. For example in Ontario do check the website, wildflower farm and Acorus for information on wildflowers. Note that there's not much nformation as to their zones - which is the reason why it's important to identify your province and look up the plants natural in your area. As to divisions - yes you can divide plants now for as long as the ground are still workable. I'd prefer to divide once the plant has gone or is close to dormant. As to seed collection. I would suggest harvesting the ripened flowerhead and putting them facing down in brown paper bags. Seeds out to drop down. Milkweed have large seedpods. Once this splits tufted seeds will float away. I grow eupatorium for semi-shade conditions, meadowsweet, thalictum and filipendula. I also grow sweet williams (invasive) and epimedium, virginia bluebells (also invasive), columbine trilliums are shade loving plants Jack in the Pulpit Marsh Marigolds Violas (careful - can be terribly invasive) woodland anemone wild blue flax yellow lady's slipper wild geranium tall buttercup lupines forget me nots There are tons of information out there on wildflowers and all you need to do is to do more online research. Try locating more information using the term woodland plant for shade loving wildflowers.

Hi I dont have a recipe for this, maybe someone will help but years ago I made lip gloss useing crisco shorting and kool-aid , dont remenber the amounts, but you melt the crisco and add kool-aid , the young kids loved it, Iam sure that vaseline would work also, try this link http://creativekidsathome.com/activities/activity_40.html

My current house is anything but easy to clean. The #1 thing I want in my new house -- our retirement house, which we're planning -- is efficiency. I was everything well-planned for our lifestyle so that I can keep things neat and tidy with less effort. Things I must have in my kitchen: - Huge walk-through pantry with floor-to-ceiling shelves for food, seldom-used cooking items, bulk-purchased paper products, etc. I love self-rotating can storage and will definitely add more when I have the space. I love the idea of everything being visible and in its place, and shelves are much less expensive than cabinets. - A four-foot countertop in the middle of the pantry so that as I walk in from the garage, I can drop groceries and sort them right on to the shelves. Food won't enter my kitchen 'til I'm ready to cook it. - No lightswitch in the pantry. Instead, I want automatic lights that turn on anytime I walk in ('cause don't you always have your hands full in the pantry?). Ditto for hallways, laundry room. - Toe-kick vaccum suction thingies to eliminate the need for dust pans. - I want my cabinets to be nice but simple. No deep engravings or requires-lots-of-wiping-down decorations on the cabinet fronts. No turned legs or feet to make the cabinets look like furniture -- I don't much care for those things anyway. - Depending upon the cabinet arrangement we go with, I might have cabinet doors that open on both sides. My great-great-great aunt had this when I was growing up, and it is SO practical for everyday dishes. You can wash your dishes in the kitchen and fill the cabinet from one side . . . then you go into the dining room, open the cabinet from the other side, and set the table. - Likewise, simple edges on the countertops. Less expensive, less chance of chipping, fewer places for spills to accumulate. - Drawers rather than cabinets so that I can use all the space at the back without difficulty. - We'll probably have one Lazy Susan. I definitely want a light inside that cabinet. - One drawer will have a built-in spot for knife storage. I want as little clutter as possible on my countertops. - One cabinet will house garbage and recycling. This cabinet will be positioned between my sink/clean-up area and my prep area. - Few upper cabinets. No, I don't go for the trendy shelves-instead-of-cabinets (how much space you give up, and if it wasn't 100% neat, it'd look awful), but I'm too short to reach the uppers comfortably. So we're minimizing them. - One upper cabinet designed for spices. I have a fantastic spice storage system (not built-in, but perfect), and I'm making sure the cabinets are sized just right for it. - Light fixtures that are not shaped like a drinking glass. Why? Because bugs get in there and die, and it's trouble to take down the fixture and clean it. In contrast, a fixture that is "open on the bottom" doesn't collect buggies. - I like my glass-top stove, but I love the raised lip around the edge. When something spills, it stays on the stovetop rather than running down the front. - I love my refrigerator with pull-out shelves . . . but I despise that it's in a corner and I can only open the door 90 degrees. The shelves and crisper on the left side are pretty much permanant fixtures. - Appliances that do not show finger prints. - The dishwasher will open in such a way that it does not block access to any cabinets (upper or lower) when it's open. - No appliance, no door should impede traffic flow. - Definitely an undermount sink. Un-fussy one-handled faucet -- the fewer pieces, the fewer places to accumulate grime. Also a medium-sized one-bowl sink with the drain positioned on one side rather than in the middle (leaves more space under the sink for cleaning products to be stored). Good garbage disposal. - No prep sink. The size of the kitchen we're planning doesn't really lend itself to two sinks, and I see two sinks as two things to clean and two sets of plumbing to eventually break down. - Since we're in the South with red clay soil, we're going with a tile with a slight red tint -- think terra cotta, but not quite so red. Or maybe I'll stick with hardwood throughout the house. I'm not certain on that one. - Very important: A top-quality floor mat at every exterior door. Be sure it's at least five steps long. This'll keep a tremendous amount of dirt from entering your house. Things I'm having even though they will be some trouble: - Glass-front cabinets. Love them. Will clean them without complaint. - Large window over the sink. Again, want the light pouring in and will clean the window without complaint. - Curtains. Yeah, I know that most of the magazines showcase wide-open windows, but I like the softness of pretty curtains. The two suggestions I'd give you in planning: - Inventory everything you have in your kitchen. And anticipate whether you're the type to add every new small appliance that comes along, whether you're likely to add another set of dishes, etc. Then, looking at your floor plan, mentally put away every item. Does it all fit? Does it leave a reasonable amount of space for expansion? - Once you're satisified with your cabinet arrangement, mentally walk through some of your typical meal preps. Where will you stand to chop your vegetables? Are your favorite knives stored nearby? How far do you have to reach for the trash can? Where do you reach for your frying pan? Where's the oil? A couple hours staring at your floor plans will save you regrets.