I have swamp milkweed, Aesclepsia incarnata seeds. I believe these come from plants that originate from either New England Wildflower Soc. or Boston Natural Areas Network's City Natives nursery. I also have common milkweed, Aesclepsia syriaca seeds. These come from wild plants that grew from seeds that originate in the beautiful White Mountains of New Hampshire. I'm not familiar with the process here but I suppose if you send along self addressed stamped envelope I can send them along to you I will say that if there is a possibility that these might go wild you probably should find seed sources from your locality. Ideally you'd want to get the genotype from your locality, not just the general phenotype of these species as North American natives. This will preserve the long evolved integrity of your local species.

Connecticut coast here. Growing season is from about the second or third week in April through Thanksgiving. This year, our last frost was on April 11 although it's still possible to have another for a week or so yet. The first fall frost can come anytime between mid-September to mid-October. Soil is variable depending strongly on your location. My site is almost pure sand in some areas, clay in others, and a wonderful combination of both in another spot...glacier soil. Most of us have acidic soils perfect for hydrangeas, azaleas, rhoddies, daphne, ferns, holly, etc. Best of all, New England grows rocks & we have wonderful 300+ year old rock walls to prove it. Most every New England gardener has a pile of rocks somewhere on their property. Granite, to be more specific. There's a reason New Hampshire's known as the Granite State! Because I live within 100' of Fisher Island Sound (part of greater Long Island Sound), our weather is moderated quite a bit from that of interior New England. We are warmer in the fall & winter, cooler in the spring & summer. Also get a lot of that coastal marine layer engulfing us in fog...primarily in June and/or early July. I love working in my garden on a mild, foggy day. It's a tough call for me as to whether I enjoy spring or fall the best. New England is known for glorious falls and for very good reason. Our climate produces the brillant reds that other areas often lack in the fall. However, April & May are also glorious...emerald green grass, flowering trees everywhere, daffs, azaleas, rhoddies, and a host of spring perennials make spring's color palette a delight. I'm a Zone 6(b) or 7(a) so have a pretty broad range of plants that perform well here. Cold enough for lilacs & warm enough for passiflora. We get the occassional summer humid spell but nothing like the south. Precipitation ranges from 50-60" a year depending on where you are in New England. During a "normal" growing season, I probably only need to provide supplemental water 2-4 times. Last summer was very dry & I watered more than I ever had but it was warm and dry all over the country. We normally receive adequate summer T-storms to keep our gardens watered. We are lucky in that while some of the storms can be severe...hail and/or tornados are rare (though not unheard of). Our summer temps here in Mystic are usually in the mid to upper 70's although we can get a heat wave into the 90's though not every year. January is our coldest month and the daytime high averages 38 degrees with night averages of around 20 degrees. Snowfall here along the coast is usually 2 1/2' or less. But, a good Nor'easter that happens to hit us hardest can drop that much with one storm. This year, we had virtually no snow all winter in Mystic. I've gardened in SoCA, Nevada, New Hampshire, & Connecticut. Connecticut is, IMO, the best. Such a large variety of plants do well here and the natural scenery is just spectacular...from the rocky coast line of Maine to the rolling hills of Western Connecticut to coastal estuaries of Rhode Island & Connecticut to the winter ski resorts in Vermont/Maine/New Hampshire, to Cape Cod...there's something for everyone. Yesterday, I enjoyed a white egret in my garden & a walk hardly passes w/o saying "hello" to a pair of swans. The downside is that the gulls frequently dive-bomb my car! I am located under a butterfly migration route & late summer brings scores to the butterfly bushes. Most of New England is forested with white birch (White Mountains of New Hampshire is famous for their white birch), a great variety of conifers, oaks, & maples. Mountain Laurel is native. Blueberries grow wild in northern New England. All in all, it's a great place to be a gardener. We are battling Jap beetles & the Asiastic lily beetle. There's a new one coming soon...the viburnum beetle which is already plaguing parts of northern New York but which, fortunately, hasn't reached me yet. Since our summers can be humid...associated diseases can be a problem but with good cultural practices most can be controlled w/o resorting to chemicals. I use yards and yards of compost every year amending our soil but, fortunately, mother nature provides plenty of free materials every fall when the leaves begin to blow. Oh, and apple-picking season is the greatest! Of course, so is maple sugaring time...lol

Can't help with the Knoll table, but I was interested to see the brass spider lamp. We just bought what looks like the same one in a wonderful antique store, Just L, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. I guess there are pros and cons to the current popularity of mid-century design: it's easier to find things, but the prices are going up.

Ornithogalum umbellatum. A menace in some peoples eyes.