1 Lamium, a weed 2 ? 3 It could be Coreopsis Moonbeam 4 Campanula - you'll want to dig this one out right away, very weedy and extremely deep rooted 5 Echinacea, Coneflower 6 Viola 7 Veronicastrum, Culver's Root (nice!) 8 Could be Goat's Beard, more likely Herb Robert 9 Lily? 10 Stachys byzantium, Lamb's Ear 11 Echinacea, Coneflower 12 Asclepias, Milkweed 13 Liriope, Lilyturf The ones I've listed as Echinacea could also be Rudbeckia, they're very similar and frankly confusing to me when not in flower. Perhaps someone else can give you more details, or you'll find out for sure when they bloom.

I find this a disturbing thread, and a crime to the insinuation that the contractor is guilty of neglect. Did the OP consult with the contractor on the best way to enter the area where the patio was to be constructed? Was the OP willing to pay the cost of the additional time required to move all of that material by hand, or did he use the contractor who gave him the lowest price? We recently had a patio installed in our backyard next to our house. The patio took several yards of sand, some gravel, and six pallets of stone for the patio deck and the wall surrounding the 16'X20" patio. The contractor had to dig, the area down at one end to level the patio. There was the area where the dirt was placed prior to be removing from the property, there was the back fill area behind the wall. There would be multiple wheelbarrow loads to the back yard, for each trip with the that was made with the truck or skid steer. There would be multiple wheelbarrow loads move the pallets of stone from the front yard to the back. There would have been multiple wheelbarrow loads of sand and gravel. Then there is the removal of the dirt from the excavation. Does the OP think all of the trips with the wheelbarrow, and the slipping and sliding of the worker as he pushes the wheelbarrow through the wet area will leave no marks. I think the OP is being quite unrealistic to think this could be done without a mark or depression in his yard. I understand the OP frustration with restoring the yard. The day after they finished my patio, we got about 2' of rain. It was several weeks before they could get back to install the sod. During that time we had over 200 sqft of soup around the patio. The soup was so thick that some of the pavers I used to replace the path, slid across the soup. (Had to have some way of getting off the patio into the back yard). I had to rework the grades in some areas to reestablish the water flow. I still am working on the grass in the area, and the patio was installed a year ago.

Squeeze: Some new information has come to light. Ever since your post, I've been perplexed. I knew my father, who was honest to a fault (and who I never heard tell a story that wasn't true), could not possibly have been mistaken. He was born (in a farmhouse) on a working family farm in Virginia, in 1906. He knew more about the outdoors than anyone I've ever seen, and definitely knew Yellowjackets from Honeybees. In fact, he taught me how to find (wild)Honeybee nests in the woods, and extract the honey. I have little problem doing it to this day (even with the scarcity of wild Honeybees). When I was a child, on the farm, and noticed a bunch of dug-up Yellowjacket combs, he explained to me what they were, and that was when he told me he had eaten their honey. Fast forward to today: I e-mailed a beekeeper friend of mine in Virginia, who I thought may know if Yellowjackets make honey. He told me they DO make honey and store it in combs. He said when he was a child (he's 70) his father designated he and his brothers to rid the yard of Yellowjacket nests in late Spring and early Summer, so his mother and sisters did not inadvertently get stung. He told me he's dug up hundreds in his youth, and found honeycombs in many of them. He told me to ask J.D.--who would surely verify this fact, as he used to charge people $1.00 to dig up Yellowjacket nests they had found, or $1.50 if he came and searched their yards and dug them up (many years ago; J.D. just turned 87 years old). J.D. has no phone (doesn't trust them), and believes a computer is akin to a spaceship; but I will see him later in the week when I go to the country. Of course, as you mentioned, Yellowjackets do not winter over in their hives. It was only I who assumed that, after being told by my father that they made honey--I figured it was for the Winter. I NOW believe they make honey to consume during the warm season, while they are active. It makes sense to me that since they feed on nectar, why not store some?? Another interesting fact, discovered with a search. Adults feed primarily on foods rich in sugars and carbohydrates (fruits, flower nectar, and tree saps). The insects, meat and fish they bring to the nest (hive) is fed to the larvae, and the larvae, in turn, secrete a sugar-like material that the adults dearly love. This exchange is called trophallaxis. Could it be that this sugar-like material is stored, and IT is the honey?? I do not report this to diminish your information--that they don't make honey--but I assume you believe that from reading available material. Is there anyone reading this post who has PERSONALLY dug up, for instance, 25 or 30 Yellowjacket nests and can definitely state that they found NO honeycombs? I've mostly seen combs already dug up by animals--and empty. But I BELIEVE I've noticed two distinct sizes of combs. I generally, after destroying a hive, just let it be--as it usually was a burn-out. Now, I'm determined to dig up a number of Yellowjacket nests, to see for myself--and talk to J.D. Hopefully, I can start with the one I poured Alcohol in (but I fear I'll have to dig up a large Azalea to get at it). Maybe there needs to be an addendum to the literature.

Everyone thinks the oyster paint is too contrasty, I know I'm wrong but I do like the crispness of it. I bought a parchmently yellow-white when i first did his office and painted a little and we both went "nyyyuuh banana". But I guess the oyster was not the right solution. But we do love the barky brown green, it's just right. Yes, the flooring in the building transitions from hardwood to underlayment in the office. For whatever reason the prior occupant decided to leave the hardwood that existed uncovered and just cover the underlayment with carpet. So that is generally aggravating. She also painted the bottom half cranberry red and the top half battleship grey. I can't tell you how many coats of white I put on before I gave up and bought a primer&paint in one. Should have primed first. alli - the layout you suggested makes sense, especially because he's have a smooth surface under his rolly chair. my original thought was to put the bookshelves on the wall shared with the main hallway so that the view from the door remained "cleaner" as a client came in and also the client would sit with his back to the bookshelves. and then dh could have the interesting bookshelves as a backdrop instead of a blank wall. plus the little chairs i reuphoultered look kind of puny sitting out in the middle of the room, but that's what we have for now. i'll move things around a little and take another photo. I think maybe what I'll do is go measure everything in the room and do a layout too if that's okay. my ultimate plan was to move the rug under the worktable once I bought one. As for the worktable, I'd like something solid and furniture like with some "gravitas". What was unlikeable about the top of the table? I figured if anything people would not like the legs. I think the antique person said it was used in a local historical home as a pastry table? Is it too kitchenish? I thought the stone top kind of looked like the water and rocks in his painting. Again, I'm not stubborn, I know I don't know what I'm doing - that's why I'm glad of the help. i'm glad you guys like the desk, it's a funny story. i was shocked when no one else bid on it and i got it for my opening bid. but when i showed dh, he grinned and pointed out that according to the ebay listing that it was about the size of a childrens desk or maybe a weird coffee table. i hadn't noticed that -so i had all sorts of buyer's remorse, but a deal is a deal, so we drove 2 hours to go pick it up anyway, figuring that we could relist it or give it away... and tadah! the guy had typo'd the measurements and it was actually not toy-sized. so that was happy! it was also grossly dirty when we started, but a linseed oil/beeswax type thing really really helped. we don't have cool relatives who give us antiques, but we did drive to sewickley in pittsburgh to pick it up so we refer to it as "great uncle sewickley's desk" i'm very excited about the map shopping suggestions and the retailmenot link - but conflicted whether to continue reading gardenweb compulsively or dash off in the quest for maps :) Unfortunately, the top really does need redone. Although the desk has survived happily unscathed for about 100 years, when the prior owner and my husband loaded it they whacked the top and the veneer got kind of shattered on one side. It doesn't show so badly in the photo but it's very visible. i thought about a glass top, but i was afraid DH might start sticking business cards, phone numbers and lunch menus under it because it was convenient. Actually glass IS a good idea and a simple solution. He wouldn't use a desk calendar because his scheduling is all computerized. I hope I'm not chatting everyone to death about this, it's thrilling to see the responses and I get all wound up :)