Welcome to the forum, Ashlie! You asked about artemisia...I grew Silver King awhile back. Loved it and it's aggressive growth wasn't difficult to manage...the texture and colour would be a wonderful foil for your hosta. So would the 'Brunette' cimicifuga. If you want an instant jungle, you could choose tall and full perennials. Look up Veronicastrum and see if you like the foliage. It grows quickly and isn't a diva but has architectural detail. There are also some tall astilbes (some reach 4-5 feet). Ostrich Plume is also interesting. Once all your infra structure is in the ground, then you'll get a better idea about how many big hosta you will need. Sometimes less is more - the bigger the plant, the less plants you'll need. I'd like to suggest you take a peek at Mocc's gardens....bet you'll see what you are looking for. I'm sorry but I can't get my hands on the pic she posted in the last day or so, just for starters. Anyway, thought I'd put in my two cents. It's always fun to be invited to be part of the building process of a new garden. :-) Have fun, enjoy and most of all, please share pics with us when you are done...we go crazy for pictures! Oh and yes, two Wu!!!! :-) Jo

This old thread got revisited. @dani_m08 to answer the question about extra probe, I believe I ordered an extra one when I bought the set up. The probe wire is just setting in the junction box I think but honestly I cant remember. When I laid out the underfloor heating and the probe, I just ran another probe near the first probe, and it was then sealed into the floor self leveling compound as per instructions. then the end was just threaded into the wall like the one that would be live, and not connected, but just laying there in the box. Regarding the tile layout. I just decided to run it this way, after getting instructions on the 90Degree way, IIRC. The herringbone that I love is from my childhood and the side walks in my neighborhood that all ran at 45Degree. so that to me is herringbone. I know you posted on @sochi thread about her amazing bathroom and a wall mounted faucet. I would totally do it if I had the right sink for it. In my case I had made my sink out of soapstone and an integrated backsplash. The pictures of this bathroom reveal are no longer available because of the use of photo bucket, when it was Gardenweb. I did not keep my account with photo bucket. I'll add some of the reveal pictures so you can see the sink and floor. Regarding the sink there is no ledge for water to drip from my hands when using the faucet. The water drips right into the sink. In my other bathroom with a deck mounted faucet I am always wiping up drips and it is a nuisance. I much prefer the setup for this sink. Below: I love the flush finish from the faucet to the bottom of the sink. nothing drips on a counter or edge of a sink. Below: looking in from the doorway. Below: Here I am finishing up the sink. the backsplash was epoxied on as a separate piece. The whole soapstone install in the room took next to nothing to buy as they were all small pieces that I epoxied together with a 3 part stone epoxy. Below: this is the counter at the tub, and is in 2 long pieces but I was able to epoxy them together at there edges to make a wide slab for the top. All the soapstone was finished with a 60 grit sandpaper to be rough and this lovely soft tone of blue/green/gray/white. I did not oil it so this color tone would remain light. Below: If I recall correctly @sochi helped me decide on this Hubberton Forge Mirror. I have 3 different metals in this room, but they are all a cool silver to black color. Below: the center of this tower shares space with the kitchen on the other side of the wall. there is also some extra space that houses some electrical wiring. this is an old simple house. this bathroom was an add on when it got move to the farm in the 30s IIRC. The plumbing was all rearrange and some of the details that were orignially there I kept but updated it, such as this tower feature. The old one went and the carpenter did a wonderful job with this one. Below: This feature was another thing I kept from the old bathroom but flipped it from the other end and had the carpenter put drawers in it. Before it was a hell hole. things got lost and the build was soooo old and creapy I didn't like using it for storage. Now it is perfect for storage.

I used to walk through a very old cemetary in Lancaster Texas. It was beautiful, & peaceful, & that's where I first saw the very old iris florentina (found in the early 1600's I think) in bloom. One 'story' sticks in my mind: There's a big square family plot, seems like the name is Campbell, & the man was a "Reverend". but there are (if I remember correctly) 3 little graves in that plot with a different name, say it was Harris; their parents were listed, & neither parent was a Campbell. The children's places of birth were shown; none of them had been born in Texas; 2 of them had been born in one state, & the 3rd in another state. It seems like all the children died in the 1930's, during the Depression; epidemics ran through whole populations, & fragile children died in droves. For years, I wondered about the story. I thought that maybe the "Harrises" had lived in one state when their first child was born, then had to move on & the second child was born in another state, etc, & they ended up in Texas, where they lost these children within a very short time. They would have been destitute, no money for funerals & markers. Maybe the Campbells gave them the spaces in their own family plot. The parents weren't buried there, so they must have moved on again. One lovely spring day, I took a friend with me on my walk & showed her the Campbell plot & told her my thoughts... & she said, "Oh, yes. Here it is." The whole story was inscribed on the opposite sides of the markers! very sad but with some touching kindness. The Campbells had helped them as much as they could.

For the record - whether or not you have collected Box Tops is up to you. It doesn’t matter to me. I have, and still have some to donate, but I have never gone out of my way to buy a product with them on it. From what I recall- they are on Cheerios, Chex, Bisquick, Scott products, taco shells, ziplocs. If something I happen to buy has it, I rip it off before recycling. When I was on the PTA board in elementary school, all of the Box Top money went into the ‘Angel Fund’ to pay for things some students couldn’t afford-mainly field trip fees or school shirts. I can see other points of view. People sending in extra money would have never worked here. We struggled to get $5 PTA memberships. Anyway my kids have moved on to college so good luck to the schools whatever they do. I think door to door selling is banned now. I haven’t had a kid come to the door in many years.