Hibiscus need full sun, all day if they can get it, especially to flower. Many leggy plants will get fuller by cutting back (or pinching back, on small plants). Years ago when I lived at the beach, my neighbor would whack back her pink hibiscus to only about two feet tall. And that thing would be absolutely GORGEOUS a few months later, loaded with blooms. It was in full sun. But that the cut back used to kill me - it was way before I was ever a gardener. Carol

Thank you - glad you liked them :) Katkin, the mama - tree was huge, definitely not a dwarf. Another interesting fact about this particular orchid tree - it has small spikes. I have never seen a Bauhinia with spikes Marcia, thank you. Hummingbirds did discover the plant - the first time I ever saw a hummer was on this powder puff. Boy, I screamed with excitement-- I grew up in Russia, and only saw pictures of hummingbirds before. I did not know they will nest in it...that would be lovely. As for the swap...well, I do not have a car at the moment, so as much as I want to, looks like I will be staying home :( I know it is going to be so much fun.. An_ill-mannered_ache : I love Prosperity. Mine is still small, and still in a pot, but what a show...Do you grow any other OGRs? Susie, I do not remember the name, and should probably look it up. I am on campus almost every day - I will run off to the gardens and look up the name of the mama tree. As the seeds are ready, I will give you some, without any trade. I also have a usual, lavender Bauhinia in a pot, if you are interested. Thanks again :) Olya

Yes, crazyhouse6, the crystal ball sconces come single. These are my final contenders, but leaning (right now) heavily toward the first one. The shade on it is actually glass. I also like the LENGTH (for my space) of the second one and the last two, but the last two are probably too modern. What do you guys vote for? Finding out later today if they can put the sconces on the towers without yanking out the towers and repainting. Here's my two favorite chandys and another inspiration photo so you can see where I'm coming from (if you don't already know!) - simple tile pattern, monochromatic, but romantic finishings:

Thank you guys so much for all the advice and inspiration pics! I'm still confused, but now I have stuff to think about! Part of the problem is that the room is not very big - about 11.5 x 15.5. My piano is a 6'5" grand, so basically, if I move it in there, there's no hope for fitting in a table or dining area (though I'll be freeing up the living room for a "kids table" if I need it). There are a ton of doorways and windows in the room as well which might make building shelves a little difficult. I'm going to post some old pics because my camera is broken and there are all I can find that show the dining room - maybe you guys can guage better than me (I'm terrible at space planning) what I can actually fit into a room like this. Here is the dining room looking towards the kitchen. We have since closed that pass-hrough window, so now that is a solid wall. That corner is the biggest expanse of solid wall and measures about 5 ft x 7 ft (the former pass through is the 7ft wall). The drywall patch for the pass through still needs some help so this might be a good place to put built ins, LOL! The table you see off to the left is the farmhouse table I had purchsed for the dining room - it has leaves you can insert to make it longer so at the smallest (shown) it measures 3 ft x 5ft and it expands out to a little over 8 ft long. I'm not set on using it - I'm sure I could resell it if I decide to go with something different. This is the rest of the room. There are two windows on the left wall, with about 46" of wall space between them. The corner cabinet is currently living in the far left corner (again the pics are old so it's not there -- and I'm amazed at how many more toys we have now than when these pics were taken - eek!!!). The computer desk table is not needed downstairs and can stay or I can sell it or use it on the screen porch. The wall where the computer desk is measures a little over 7 ft and the adjoining corner wall is a little less than 4 ft. So the corner cabinet can move to any of the 3 corners shown in the pics (the last pic was taken from the 4th corner, which is where the doorway is to the kitchen in the first pic). Any suggestions for where to put built in shelves, a small but expandable table and/or a 6'5" piano are most appreciated! I am, as I said above, awful at spatial stuff - I can't picture anything until I see it in real life. So all guidance is most welcome!