Very cool tomato supports! I am going to copy them, for sure. :) We had a GORGEOUS weekend here in NC - high 60s. Got SO much done, cleaned up the old veggie bed, perennial beds, and even double-dug a new bed for blueberry plants I will get next month. Incorporated a very large bag of chopped, aged leaves into the bed, then planted irises along the border. Sowed some mesclun, spinach, chives and Chinese leaves in half of the fenced veggie bed. Pulled tons of weeds (Does anyone else really hate winter weeds?) and set out my new bird feeder. The daffodils are in bud, not blooming yet, and the hyacinths are peeking through the mulch. Looking forward to spring color!

I always like the bad news first - the crepe myrtle is too close to the house and should be moved while it still can be. The boxwood will eventually outgrow it's little space, but that can take a hard pruning to keep it for a few years. The fallen leaves are okay. The silvery plants are Dusty Miller - and I think the snaps, plumbago, alyssum, and dianthus are fine. A nice change from the tortured into submission evergreens in some yards. Snaps will wilt when they need water; but they'll put out more bloom spikes if you pinch off the spent ones. Your conditions in zone 8 are much different than mine in zone 4 - we rarely get prolonged heat enough to bake a garden like you probably do in Houston. I wouldn't plant anything directly over the buried downspout extension - too easy to forget it's there and slice through it with a shovel or something. Some more snaps underneath the arrow, some more allysum on the up side of the dianthus and you're all set.

Yes, it depends on the specific Raid formulation as to how extensive the collateral damage might be. Raid Ant and Roach Killer (pretty popular product and one that is applied as a spray rather than a bait) has a couple of active ingredients that could pose mortality to various insects and soil organisms if applied heavily enough. Typically, the spray needs to come in contact with the critter and it would have had to have been an extremely heavy spray to soak down into the soil to any significant degree. I'd suspect that unless hubby emptied the can in this location, the Raid is not the reason insect life seems so slight. Soil dwelling insects are not always readily apparent with cursory digging and temperature, soil moisture and the presence of other natural predators could all have an effect. Did you actually see dead specimens in the soil or just not see much activity at all? There's a big difference. Personally, I'd not be overly concerned about the fate of your organic garden. Just continue on as intended but suggest hubby keep the sprays well away in the future. Even approved 'organic' pesticides like pyrethrins can have an impact on beneficial, non-target organisms.

I think your "dresser" is wonderful. There is an article in today's paper about furniture finding new functions. It is very interesting with some wonderful pictures. You could use it in your foyer as well. It reminds me of part of a bedroom suite my DD has and no longer wants. If we ever move nearer them I have dibs on it to use along with my MIL's twin 4 poster beds in our MBR. My DH can't imagine twin beds in a Master but I don't care about what people normally have in their MBR. We don't turn in at the same time and I thrash around in bed so separate beds are a must. Use it where ever you have the most need for it, am sure it will be lovely. I wonder if the design was also on the lower drawer before someone stripped it and perhaps sanded down the "evidence"? Dorothy