Thanks Karin. I don't have too much of a problem with things leaning for the light, partly because the house side is largely planted with Beacon Silver and White Nancy lamium. It's so dry on that side that there isn't a lot of options for what will grow. I planted the lamium about 18" from the house wall so it would have a better chance of getting moisture when it rains, and then waited to see if it would spread into the dryest area against the house. It did, and completely and rapidly filled the dry area. I like the silver as a 'carpet' under the other things that grow there. It enhances everything nicely and lights up an otherwise dark area. It probaly helped with the establishment of the lamium that I dumped potting soil (from pots I used to grow peas) as the top layer of 'lasagna' the fall I created the bed. The potting soil had 'water crystals' in it and the peas would have provided nitrogen. I watered with soaker hoses in the first year but haven't watered since. All the columbine that is in the bed comes from seeds I scattered from plants growing elsewhere in the garden. I think they establish better re drought tolerance that way, so they have filled in back to the house as well and, because they are quite shade tolerant, aren't prone to leaning. The Eupatorium 'Chocolate' was planted, not seed grown, and I wasn't sure if it would be too dry there for it but it seems to be thriving. It certainly billows but I wouldn't say it leans. It's fairly shade tolerant too. Essentially I planted the alley with things that are either shade lovers or shade tolerant to various degrees so I think that was the key to avoiding the leaning problem. I'm always concerned about evergreens outgrowing their space and, since the space is so limited, I didn't include any. The alley isn't visible from anywhere in the house and in winter it gets completely buried in several feet of snow usually (except for the snow-blown path) so evergreens for 'winter interest' was not an issue.

Very nice indeed, Edward. Belle of Ashwood is lovely, and I like your new one, Voluptuous Beauty. Mary's Baby is a favorite of mine because of the lush color and texture, but Heavenly Angel Ice!!!Ah that's a real winner. kay

Oh no! That's not fun. You don't need DH to fix it, you can do it! Leaks are often just degraded O-rings, which do eventually happen as they are rubber. I bet if you call Kohler support they can walk you through taking the handle off and finding the problem. It's not hard, and there are only so many parts in there. They may even send the part free. You can get a new sprayer on Amazon for like $22 or something. Should be a snap to replace if they won't send you a new one free. I did read a lot of reports of the plastic snapping like that eventually, but I decided it was an easy enough thing to swap out if I ever needed to, and it's not unusual for something used that much to give like that. Not sure about the hose not retracting, but I'd take a peak underneath and see if the weight is in the right place. It may just need to be adjusted. Mine looks like a plastic tie off keeps it from going too low, my guess is over time that may wiggle it's way too low. Kohler support could probably help with these pretty quickly. Needed to add: if you need to lubricate anything in this process, use it sparingly. I learned the hard way that more lubricant doesn't help. We had a lever that wouldn't stay put for weeks after I went overboard with the lubricant, and I was too lazy to take it all back apart to wipe it off. This post was edited by williamsem on Thu, Jul 4, 13 at 10:52

Maryl - You wondered if Facemaker would be whiter in the heat. It's not. It's more yellow than cream with the heat and humidity. Those photos you saw that made the petal color look white were not reality. They were either the result of people using cameras that tend to "blue" everything up, or it was caused by light blowback. I didn't photograph it this morning because one petal wasn't fully open. Pinks and purples are still my top favorites. I've acquired more reds because I'm hybridizing with them. Having gotten good results from my red breeding, I wanted more reds to cross with my red seedlings. I do tend to like the reds more and more each year though. oranges too.. Debra