Wintersow "What Were You Thinking Moment" this week. I set out to find plastic containers. Talked to GW people about how to mark-every marker I've tried has failed in the last 2 years. I found tubs. Without thinking I bought glass jars at Goodwill. They're great for the greenhouse effect, but putting in the drainholes is a challenge. Duh! Why, yes, I'm blond. Why do you ask?

Aspidistra is good, though slow ($$). there are some colored foliage cvs ($$$$) (but they may not be as tough? i don't recall ever seeing them ITRW) Iris foetidissima, another classic dry shade plant. Nephrolepis. will need some water. Aucuba (slow), will need some water. X fatshedera might fit better than fatsia. some water. Nandina should be good (kind of ugly, depending on taste). doesn't grow very fast. but i think will then survive with no water (in shade). the backside (garage wall) of Japanese boxwood might hollow out. slowish, and i think will then need a little water. Try Ruscus if you can order it. I saw it only once. looked nice tho maybe a bit boring. hmm, the blob of dirt under the garage window is not thoroughly dark. how long has the agave in the pot been there? Definitely get rid of the lawn under the trees. if you don't mind common stuff... English ivy is great under deciduous trees, water regularly until filling in (they'll love wood chips mulch). then slow irrigation, once a month during the hot months will be enough. keep it dry and it won't try climbing the trees very fast. privets :-) citrus (non dwarf) are very tough once established... Pittosporum tobira in lighter/dappled/part shade. winter bulbs are great under deciduous trees. narcissus/daffodils are cheap. leucojum grow similarly, but look different enough to be interesting. probably can't find them retail. they seem to flower despite more (winter) shade than narcissus will flower in.

You're welcome! maire_cate - No pool, but the existing patio does get slippery when wet, especially when I am in flip flops. tinam61 - Our patio was poured, and then it was suppose to be acid stained. Instead, they rolled some type of stain on top, and then sealed it. As I said, the inside has held up with two more applications of sealer in the last 5 years. The outside has actually been re-stained (after the first season and flaking began)and has been sealed 4 times. Yes, the overlay has color applied before the epoxy is poured. Are you thinking of having the lower driveway done with stamped concrete, or brick pavers? If you are in an area that gets lots of snow (and salt) I would not try the stamped concrete. My neighbor has has his torn up and redone, and still had it ruined over the winter with the salt trucks. susieq07 - I've seen your driveway before. You've had that quite a while. Has it held up well? Talked to DH today. We are going to wait for the estimates to come back on our project. If the numbers are within our budget, I think we are going to go ahead and either add to the existing pad before having a coating put on it, or tear the pad up and pour a larger pad. We could also do pavers instead of a concrete pad. Maybe the yard would not get as torn up if we are just taking out the old pad, and not having to have a new pad poured. Again, it all depends on the expense and our budget. I wish for a larger patio to be able to serve our needs. Here is the rest of what we are doing. Pergola will be attached to house. So instead of four columns, we will have two. This will improve our siteline from the house and screen porch. From backyard looking at patio and screened porch From backyard with pergola mock-up From backyard with pergola, grill enclosure and fireplace mock-up Fireplace and/or pergola examples that I like. We are not sure whether to go with brick to match our house (if we can find it) and use stone accents like this. There would be seats on either side and the chimney will be higher to tie in with pergola. I like this the best, but chimney would not be quite this tall because we will have gas. Take away the two columns, and scaled down a bit, plus add the seats. Original dream photo. I've hung onto this for a couple of years. Saw this at General Shale yesterday and was determined that this was it! Today, I am having second thoughts that it may be TOO formal. Plus, the white detailing may become a headache for cleaning. I think that I'd rather go with detailing like the following photo, whether used with stone or brick. Did I tell y'all that we will also be improving the looks of the screened porch post? Instead of the solid paint stain on rough treated post, and the vinyl cladding on the outside of the porch, we will have the post re-wrapped with a smooth paintable wood and then redo the screening and trim them out. Again, this is something with can put on the back burner if needed. After all, I just stained the post last summer. Throw in some landscaping, lighting and furniture, we will be all done!

Could you also set your strawflowers and dark red vinca aside for me, if they havent gone already! Thank you - emailing you with contact details... J