Annnnnnd never mind. Almost immediately after posting, an idea of some different search parameters popped into my head and I found my mystery plant after two links. It turns out to be Hairy Indigo. A non-native plant introduced as a grazing crop from the looks of it.

Welcome to Gardenweb! I don't know why this forum is so slow this year. It used to be busier. The Trees Forum, where I hang out most of the time, is still hopping with activity, but this forum has slowed way down. As for transplanting Asclepias incarnata, I think you'll find that it's much easier than transplanting A tuberosa. It does need lots of sun, so maybe that's why yours is not doing as well. A incarnata is naturally more tall and lanky than tuberosa, so you shouldn't expect it to have similar form. It should flower though. Cimicifuga 'Hillside Black Beauty' is a really pretty plant, but do realize that it's patented. Growing unauthorized divisions would be illegal. If someone had it and no longer wanted it, they could turn over the entire plant to you, but they legally couldn't give you a division while continuing to grow the original plant. The legal issue of this plant may be like running a stopsign in the middle of the desert, where you can see that there are no cars in the surrounding miles, but I thought you still might want to know. Hope to see you at the swap. The fall swaps are typically a little smaller than the spring swaps, but we should have around 20 or so if things go as normal. We always have PLENTY of plants in need of a good home!

For Maryland, a professional engineer is not required. My husband did not sit for the exam, but he has been an engineer for 20 years, so he probably has more experience with these types of formulas than most. Having said that, the state provides "guidance" based on best practices, but they don't give a clear example of what might be needed in the calculations for most residential builds. Does that make sense?

We did exactly what you are suggesting, except I can't remember if we used plywood or MDF. All we did was brush a coat of Aura paint on it because we happened to have almost a quart of it in a color that looked good as a countertop. Most people did not notice at a glance that they not "real" countertops-even though they were almost an inch short (a sheet cut in half doesn't give enough depth for an overhang...) It did bubble up a bit around the sink, but we didn't really seal it so that was to be expected. It was less than a year before we got the soapstone installed. One side benefit was that the temporary counters served well as templates for the soapstone (my dh did the soapstone). We got to try out the sink reveal, etc. before committing it to stone. We also used MDF on the island until we got the stainless steel fabricated. Again, it gave me the opportunity to adjust-we vetoed the rounded off corners on the end after trying it with the temporary counter. I did look at doing laminate for the interim, but we were way too cheap when it came down to it, to buy something that would be ripped out in the near future. The motivation to get the soapstone would have decreased greatly, too...