Hi mxk3, I feel the same way about my house (butter yellow asbestos "siding" with maroon shutters and a concrete stoop for a "front porch"). I'm trying to convince my dh to at least build a small porch or portico, he says that once we landscape the front yard this year, nobody will be looking at the stoop. I'm not convinced :). I agree that white's not my favorite color for a house, at least not in our area. Maybe in a place like New England with a different style house entirely, it would be another story. But if you're sticking with white, I do like the combination of white and navy (say, shutters or trim). I don't know if that would be too stark a contrast for you or not. But it also sounds like painting the brick to match whatever color siding you end up choosing is a very doable option too...in which case, what color would you like your house to be :)? I think different styles of house kind of lend themselves to different colors, so please do post a pic if you can.

The Star for me is my 'Knockout' Roses. They are planted in impossibly hot southern exposure in front of a concrete porch at the top of a slope. Not only have they survived, but they are flourishing and this is only there second summer. Yesterday I watered them for the first time this summer. Echinops and ornamental grasses that didn't get planted until later in the season look suprisingly good. Russian sage, flax, sedum, Boltonia, lavender, Nepeta and gaura are unfazed by the drought. My garden would be extremely sad though with out my annuals. I don't consider them thirsty at all. I have Zinnias and Ageratum 'Blue Horizon', Gompherena, Salvia 'Lady in Red', 'Bedder Blue' and 'Black and Blue', Lantana, Cleome, Brazilian Verbena, Pentas, Four o'clocks, and Larkspur that have held up very well. Black eyed susans just didn't cut it. The echinacea bloomed its heart out, but the plants themselves look pitiful. My 'purple dome' asters look remarkably good under the circumstances and I am anxious for them to bloom.

The soil is a mix between MG General Potting soil and a cactus citrus mix for drainage. I water them 2-3 times a week very lightly ( generally little to no water comes out the bottom of the pots). I only fertilized them once lightly about three months after they had started growing with a liquid fert mix from "organic choice?" The fazli is about a foot and a half from the flourescent light and 2-3 feet from the 60watt incadesent light, which I only started back up yesterday, my last bulb burnt out 2-3 weeks ago. The little tiny haden (i believe) is 2 feet further away. The flourescent light is on from 7:30am until 7:30 pm or so with a few breaks during the day. The incandescent light is on intermittently between 10:30am and 3 pm. I live currently in upstate ny, st lawrence county (zone 3a-3b). How would you reccomend acclimating them to the light. And I've also read that mangos are very susceptible to salt burn, should I consider leaching the soil?

I thoroughly enjoyed my Land Use class in law school reading 100's of cases of issues similar to this. Now building my home and dealing with our town conversation commission isn't as enjoyable. Jules could probably explore legal remedies, but I agree it most likely isn't worth the money unless you land is truly unsellable and worth a great deal. As trained lawyer (I don't practice) I advise most people away from legal remedies. My husband doesn't agree, hence we have pending action against our original engineer who was not as he claimed and did not fulfill his contract and it has gotten us absolutely nowhere.