Thank you everyone. All things considered I feel pretty good for a week post op and I'm behaving quite well. doing only what I'm supposed to do. Drippy, those chipmunks are not funny and they sure aren't "chip and dale" either. Never mind the garden bed destruction that they create, the holes that they dig can be dangerous if you get your shoe or foot caught in one of them and go down. A year ago I did just that and tore ligaments in my ankle. The little boy that used to live next door got his foot in one when he was 4 and broke his leg. Now if that isn't enough insult here's more to add insult to injury. An article in the newspaper a few weeks ago said that chipmunks are a major carrier of deer tick now, more so than even deer and that could be the cause of a massive increase in the number of Lyme Disease cases being reported. Not that i needed an incentive to do everything I can to get rid of them, but that sure added a whole new layer to doing it. Then a friend called me last week the day before I went to the hospital to warn me that she was working in the gardens a month ago and she unknowingly disturbed a chipmunk that jumped on her arm and ran off. She didn't notice that she had a tick on her arm till the next day because it had attached right on top of a birthmark. 2 weeks later, bingo she has the classic bulls eye rash on her arm and has lyme disease. Chipmunks are not very smart. They can't swim, but will be more than happy to dive into water to get sunflower seeds and drown in the process and that's fine with me, right along with eating my datura as well. e-mail me if you want some info on chipmunks that like to dive for sunflower seeds. Bonny, the livingston daisy was WS by a friend of mine. There are 3 of us that share the WS for 3 gardens. We cane up with the idea to share it all after a couple of years of all of us sowing the same seeds then coming to my spring plant swap and all having the same extra seedlings. Didn't make sense so we split it up now. We end up with the same number of containers, more of each kind sowed, but the total variety is split between the homes and we end up with an even bigger variety of plants for the beds. Vera the color of that viola is beautiful. If you have any seeds for trade in the fall, I'd love some and will send you some of mine. PV, sow those seeds for next year. No matter how many of them you have, sow all of them cause they are a funny seed to germinate. My experience with them has been strange to say the least. My first seeds where from valueseeds.com. got 3 packets, 30 seeds in each packet and sowed them in early March. just sprinkled on the top of the soil cause they are small and tannish in color. Out of those 70 seeds we got 6 seedlings. Not a very happy camper that there, but I collected every single one of the seeds I could get my hands on from the plants and it was a ton of seeds, more than 1/4 tsp. Next year we sowed every one of those seeds, and I kept thinking OMG, what will I do if thousands of these seeds germinate. Well, no such luck, we got 20 seedlings last year. Figured ok, better than the year before and we will always have to sow every single seed we get. So this past year I had more than 1/2 teaspoon of seeds. We sowed 4 mushroom containers of seeds, the 10 ounce size container, put each one in a ziplock baggie and put them out in mid April this year. just an experiment to see if a later sowing would make any difference in the germination rate. They began to germinate on 4/29 the exact same day as the prior to years, and they where slow. But this year we saw how the seeds germinate. they swell to at least twice their original size and all but germinate 1 seed at a time. honest. But there was a huge difference in this years germination. We had mushroom containers totally covered in seedlings. so many that we couldn't separate seedlings and planted hunks of them every where. My neighbor across the street still hasn't planted hers out yet and the entire container is covered in flowers and seedlings covering the container. We have to have thousands of seedlings this year. On top of that, we have seedlings of the viola popping up all over the place in the lawn and my neighbor has several popping up in her yard as well. Doesn't make any sense to me why on the third year with the seeds, second year of collecting seeds we have mass germination and the prior 2 years including the first year from commercial purchase the germination was very poor. Fran

Again, thanks all. I continue to learn more with each commentary. I should explain that my initial post was rather abbreviated, having little experience with this forum. The reasoning for the boxwood is that there are already at least 8 individual boxwood in the back tier. I decided to add more instead of digging old ones out. When I first bought this house the boxwood was over 10 feet tall with no lower growth. It was intertwined with Ivy, 3 fences and an assortment of trash, weeds, thatch etc. ItÂs taken this long to get to the bottom. IÂve managed to salvage some of the boxwood (re-growing off of old root stock) and pulling out the stumps from the 40+ year old DEAD boxwood was so much work, IÂve decide to add more than take more out. Plus, IÂm still into the idea of a water break to stand between my roses and my neighbor. His over-watering and hosing off his patio doesnÂt change, even after discussions. I considered the 3 at a time method ala David Austin recommendations until I spoke with the guy at my local nursery. Seems that if you plant them in mass in LA, they get HUGE. One seems to be enough for our heat. I do plan to cut back 1/3 every blush per Austin recommendations to see if I can keep them bushy. My current AustinÂs are not getting that treatment and they are leggy. I still havenÂt figured out how to imbed photoÂs into this stream but work continues on prepping the bed. IÂve dug away everything that is in the front and am about to till the bed to get out the mass of tuber roots from some evil plant that I call Asparagus fern. The back is clean with Boxwood being the only remaining part. Both layers need about 4" of top soil removed to get the level below grade of the planters. Next step, till, drip system and then plant. Am also considering an under-planting to cut down on weeds and not have the sterile bed with roses & dirt that is so common in LA.

I didn't even know there was a Toto or Waterworks store on the westside. Grass is always greener.... I think that's one of the most powerful forces on the planet! Cabinet installed so I can show some pictures of its funkiness, and the gemisch of finishes on hardware already present. I dunno what to do now ... too much thinking as others have said. But as I've said, this decision, about faucets, has always been my very hardest and least successful. For reference, here's my sink: And here it is in situ: Kohler Alteo: It's set into a natural bamboo-fronted floating vanity above reddish-hued slate. There is a glass-fronted shower stall with chrome fixtures and a doorknob with brushed chrome (I don't like the lock but that's all that was available). I do think the faucet has to "belong" to the sink and should be oil-rubbed bronze even though there is other stuff in the room. Here's what I'm considering (thanks to you-all). Delta Vero: Hansgrohe Talis C: Hansgrohe Metris C: Delta Addison (only less tall version): Kohler Alteo: Any opinion?

I'm so sorry, Sheila. That's hard. I hope your roses bounce back quickly and you're able to enjoy those blooms soon enough. After 6 weeks of unusually warm temps and my roses had mostly leafed out we were hit with 3 nights with temps in the mid to low 20s last month. Most faired well but Rouge Royal and SdlM died to the ground. They, surprisingly, survived the ordeal and are slowly inching up now. What we go through as gardeners! Glad to hear your garden is okay, Diane. I almost hate asking because of your hard winter but any sign of Augusta Luise?