Thanks, Kim, for the confirmation. I checked on Chinese chives, it's the same as garlic chives mentioned in Field Roebuck's book. He stated, "In at least one controlled experiment, when planted underneath roses, garlic chives completely eliminated spider mites and reduced aphids." Rose magazine site stated that high-nitrogen chemical fertilizer does encourage aphids. The Canadian website that advocated fall fertilization, rather than spring, cited less insect problems with earlier nitrogen fertilization for wheat fields. Garlic chives have white flowers, it is listed among the invasive species. In my experience with invasive species, it's the least invasive, since it can be pulled up easily. It's a tiny bulb - rather than invasive roots. If you cut the flowering stem off before it becomes seeded, then you stop the growth. I was hoping it becomes invasive enough to gather a gallon for making pot stickers -but it did not spread fast enough in our 40" inch annual rain and high germination in magnesium rich soil. I also have the American chives with purple flowers, this is invasive since it spreads by roots. This chives is more drought-tolerant than Garlic, or Chinese chives. Calendula, or potted marigold, is just as pretty but more drought-tolerant than regular marigold. Calendula host many beneficial insects, especially green lacewings. These lacewings fly around and eat Calendula's pollens. But they give birth to larvae, named aphid lion. More info: "Each lacewing larva will devour 200 or more pests or pest eggs a week ... After this stage, the larvae pupate by spinning a cocoon with silken thread... the adult will live about four to six weeks...Each adult female may deposit more than 200 eggs. Nectar, pollen, and honeydew stimulate their reproductive process." What I like the most about garlic chives, or Chinese chives is its medicinal and anti-inflammation properties. It's especially yummy in potstickers, better than green onions. I like Calendula (comes in bright yellow and bright orange), since they are drought tolerant and still bloom during frost. Below is a picture of Calendula in my tomato garden:

When I overwinter pepper plants, I usually do an extreme trim and cleanup of the leaves, branches and roots, as well as re-potting with fresh medium, mostly to avoid pest issues inside the house. You could bring in your plants just as they are or prune to almost any level you like, depending how concerned you are with aphids and the like. What are those pots, 6" or so? It's a good size to overwinter plants of that size, so keep those. You'll get the hang of their watering schedule fast enough, which should not be too often, especially if you prune them. I usually wait until the plant looks a bit thirsty or for the top inch of medium to feel dry and then deeply water. You should not need to fertilize, especially if your potting medium is relatively fresh, at least not until early spring.

Thanks so much for taking a look and the kind comments. I'm having so much fun at this and it's great to have you guys to share my finds with! :) I think the ladies down at the consisnment shop are getting a kick out of me, I show up all excited to see what I've won. *LOL* Marti8a .. I paid $3 for the three fire kind custard bowls, which would have been $1 above the opening bid. I've noticed the smaller bowls like this often go for about nothing, but I think they are great for serving up dessert or making individual desserts in. The wire bowl is a MCM fruit bowl .. I'm putting a link to one below on ETSY that's all shined up and listed for $18 .. I paid $5 the whole box of silver plate, so I'm excited to see it listed for that. Juddgirl .. there is a consignment shop here in town that does auctions almost every tuesday and every other friday. She does absentee bids there, so I go in about a day before the auction and review what they have, then place my max on each item. She then buys the item for the lowest price .. same system as e-bay. I run in the next day .. or in this case after the weekend, grab up my goodies and pay. :) I find the Estate Auctions by going to Auctionzip.com and putting in my zipcode. This past Saturday there were two I was interested in at the same time, they were pretty close by to each other too. So what we did is went a bit early and checked out both auctions to see which one had the most stuff we were interested in. Pbr .. Yay .. Glad you DH liked it and is on board with your plans! Here is a link that might be useful: Silver plate wire bowl

I tended to some roses today, but that was the extent of my yard work. May squeeze some more in, but it's doubtful. Electrician looks to have another full day of work Monday. He found some interesting things in my walls that made it take more time. Plumber moved the gas line from previous gas dryer to new gas range (I've got to check the specs...looks high and looks like it sticks out quite a bit) and moved the one supply line for the washer over as needed. But...I think it's too tall. But that should be easy enough to cut down if needed. I emailed GC, plumber didn't fix sink plumbing yet. Supposed to get new angle stops etc. GC's wife called and said that's no biggie, it'll get done before cabinet install, or even after. I said since they're leaking, I'd prefer it was before. She didn't know they were leaking, so it will now be before. My big accomplishments for the day were nailing down almost all lighting issues, I think. I bought the recessed lighting things (I don't know what they are each called...the attach them in the ceiling part and the plug them into that part...but don't call it a bulb), a few dimmers, one receptacle with usb holes. I ordered a few more lighting/switches related things on Amazon and should be here Sunday. And I emailed and talked on the phone with Environmental Lighting and got a plan for my UCL. I'm sure I could have pieced together something less expensive, but I understand this and can install it myself, so that'll be a savings in itself. Also, I confirmed that I need one less outlet for the UCL installed, so that will save. I 'adjusted' a few things re: the electrician's work. The GC had drawn the outlets smack-dab in the middle of the backsplash. I had him move them down and over on either side of the range. I didn't ask the one in the middle of another wall to be moved, though it probably could be. I may end up asking about that if it wears on me this weekend. And I also asked him to install an outlet in the utility cabinet so I can charge my hand vac, Braava, etc. Tacos just arrived. :)