UPDATE: Hi everyone, I have responded to all requests to this point and sent instructions to everyone, except curlersnflipflops (see my note below). If you did not get an email, please contact me again! Users who have not posted in the thread (for my records) are: goozylucy (Michelle) sweet german girl (Glenda) To curlsnflipflops, I received your email but am not able to reply to it because you do not have an email linked to your gardenweb account (or if you do you have checked the box on your personal page that keeps it blocked from other users). You can either email me directly at kimmetkl@yahoo.com from an outside account or add an email address and try again! Sorry! :) PS. cute username :)

Michelle, Congrats on a great thread. It is very rare to have a thread attain 100 responses and you clearly will go way over that. Another first for Camelot in SW VA Fritillary (sp.) I couldn't get close enough to determine what species. BTW, This beats my earliest Fritillary ever by 3 days. mike

ali, what about putting an arbor in and growing a honeysuckle up it? From the edge and in from the driveway to the tree, I'd edge out the grass from that area and curve slightly to the end of the concrete pad in front of your home, the patio area. All the way to the end. Let's give you some curb appeal ;) Put the middle of the arbor in front of the edge of the concrete pad where the car is sitting, about 3 feet in. From the middle of the arbor to the drive and then going up your house, you could create a path that would curve over to the sidewalk and to the front door. For right now, using newspapers and a 5 gallon bucket filled with water, cover up all grass with layers of newspapers you've plunged into the water. Lay them down, overlapping as you go. I typically use about 10 layers of paper. The more, the better. If you can create your path first, either using stepping stones or gravel, lay down something like visqueen and lay the stepping stones or the gravel over to create the path. Remove the grass where the path will be so that nobody trips over stepping stones or gravel. Take out a V shape where you're going into the lawn from driveway to tree and up and over to the end of your home. Remove the dirt and the grass from the V, so that you've got a drop off of sorts and lay your wet newspaper to curve down into the area where the dirt is. Cover the area up with mulch or mushroom compost if you can get your hands on some, except for the path area. By next year, the newspaper will start to decompose and the grass will be dead, but it adds to the organic matter of newspaper and the dead grass. Worm heaven. From now and thru winter, study up on various perennials and possibly a few shrubs that produce berries for our other feathered friends. Next year, push back the mulch or mushroom compost and dig holes to plant. There should be enough room to the right of the path up to your front door, to add in a shrub. Then the other shrubs could go in front of the poles, under planted and going out to the edge with perennials. I prefer natives. They're adapted to our weather, our soil, they make up our ecosystem. Find a list of native plants for your area, and research those plants as to what hummingbirds like and also which ones make seed that other birds will like to eat on. The native plants won't require dead heading, don't need pruned or cut back so they look better....I just prefer them over all. Now an iris in there isn't going to hurt anything ;)...or a peony....both left by the previous owner that I decided to leave and a friend of mine from TN also gave me a beautiful iris that is sentimental to me. But again, those 2 are easy plants. Hummingbirds will love to sit and rest a spell on shrubs you provide and give you a closer look at their beauty. Too much?? Where do you live? Zone 5, but where? lovefornature, you're doing a wonderful job! It's people like you who join GW that make it an enjoyable site to visit. If you like butterflies and are interested in attracting some of them to come to your yard, you could plant a Aristolochia tomentosa or Aristolochia durior. Another plant I love that I don't know draws anything in, but blooms in late summer, is Clematis virginiana. Another neat native clematis is Clematis glaucophylla. I also answered the e-mail you sent, I hope you got it.

If you are considering built-in refrigeration, look at Thermador as well as SubZero. I have the columns and have loved them. Thermador was the only fully integrated when I got them and they now are now the maker behind a number of other names while SuZero also has a fully integrated look now too. I think they are the best looking and best quality -- though I have heard of issues with SubZero service from time to time. You also hear about 20 year old fridges that are still working, so I'm sure that runs both ways for SZ. I had the first ":Freedom Series" columns installed in this area and I think they are now over 7 years. If you have any interest in undercounter drawers (or stand up units), fridge or freezer, look at Perlick. Outstanding commercial quality in a home unit. I have fridge drawers in a breakfast room hutch and love them. I think they work best for specific uses in a certain spot rather than as a general fridge or freezer trying to accommodate all purposes. BTW, as to your original question, I like white and grey houses, and the sable looks great on that house, but so does the clay. You don't need to have the added expense for your house to look great -- can't give any input on the neighborhood issue. Different colors, materials, elevations, and landscaping call all help avoid the cookie cutter feeling -- but I don't see you house looking like a cookie cutter type to begin with. If it is just similar colors being used frequently, it may be because they fit the area and keep that calm, wooded serenity that appeals to everyone. Maybe it's not a bad thing. I've seen the same few colors on a majority of houses in some of the highest priced neighborhoods -- never thought it was a problem.