Watered as per instructions doesnt help, as instructions are wrong 90% of the time. Theres no cut and dry way to water. Water as is needed. Which direction does the window face? Has the tree been moved much? I saw something once, where a tree was put outside in bright light after living indoors. It wasnt introduced to the outdoors over time and the leaves scorched

Hi Cindy, Here are some of my suggestions. 1. Pea Gravel = bad. Bogs are acidic. If the pea gravel is made from limestone or dolomite it may cause the water to turn alkaline. In my area, pea gravel, is usually from limestone. If your pea gravel is from washed beach stones, from say granite or volcanic rock, then it should not much effect the pH. But even if the gravel is neutral or acidic, there is no advantage to pea gravel or any other stone in a bog (from the perspective of the plant). 2. Fabric = bad. In nature, bogs are filled with sphagnum moss and lenses of sand. Some bogs have a profile of a hundred feet deep. The entire profile is sphagnum moss and sand. There is no running water in a gravel bed at the bottom. The top is live long fiber sphagnum moss, then decomposing dead moss, then crushed compacted moss (peat). Occassionally in the profile there are layers of sand. So, from the viewpoint of the bog plants, you only need a pretty simple construction. I constructed a bog similar to what Judy described. I also avoided punching holes as recommended by Bob. My bog works great (but your zone is much much warmer then my area, some adjustment might be needed for your climate). Hope this helps. Tom

We went with the 48" Electrolux range with a Monogram 240V Advantium and a monogram Warming Drawer. Our house is still under renovation, so I can't give a first-hand account, other than to say I'm excited! Our reasoning for our choices are as follows: We don't use the oven that much... neither of us bake, and we mostly use it to roast veggies, make a turkey at Thanksgiving, roast an occasional chicken, make lasagna, etc. For our needs, one oven is basically all we really need, so a range / wall unit was overkill (we are replacing a range and single wall oven... very old and outdated). The selling point of the 48" Electrolux was that it had 6 burners. Yeah, I know 36" ranges do too, but man, the 48" gives you some real estate to work with. That is why we preferred it to the 8-burner 48" or combo ranges we looked at. We use some large Le Creuset dutch ovens, and some big "everyday" pans, so the extra 12" of space will be a great luxury. We use a Big Green Egg and / or a Weber gas grill for our meats, so an indoor grill was unneeded. A griddle always seems messy to me... I know some love them. The small oven in the 48" ranges is perfect for our needs. Big enough for a lasagna / pie / casserole. The large oven on the 48" is perfect for a turkey or full-sized roasting pans, etc. The Advantium 240 gives us the great speed-cook option, along with a really snazzy microwave. We didn't really need the convection feature of the 120V... both ovens in the range convect. That leaves the warming drawer. If we ever decide to bake, it has a proofing feature. It will also serve the normal WD functions. I didn't really think we needed one, but our in-laws have one and we use it all the time, so I'm sold. All in all, I feel like we've covered our bases. We have lots of ways to cook and keep foods warm, we didn't spend a fortune (shopped around a lot!) Oh... one more thing... the 48" ranges look really cool. I know that is a silly reason to get one, but they DO look neat in a kitchen.

I am not an expert, but a new coat of paint for the entire brick floor appears to be the solution. We have the same problem with a stained concrete outdoor surface. It's lost some of it's stain in front of the screened porch door. The surface will have to be etched/sanded and then the stain reapplied and sealed. Seems that the same would have to be done to your painted porch.