BEN: Thank you for such a nice comment.Maybe you will soon have some blooms to share, also.I hope so,anyway..I go out at least once every hour,usually, to look at the blooms.I injoy them so much.Years ago,I was married and lived in Louisiana on a acre of land.There was nothing on the land except for one tiny little tree about 6 foot tall.After several years,I decided I want to see some thng besides grass and cane fields, so I made a nice big round flower bed around the tree, then made another flower bed under a bedroom window. Around that tree,I planted RED VERBENA'S and under the bedroom window I planted A MIX OF GIANT ZINNIA'S..Then my husband wanted me to plant little pine trees on both sides of the lot and on each side of the drive way.We had a LONGGgg driveway. so I finally done that, tooThen I made other flower beds,here and there. I was doing the grass cutting on a riding mower.Then after awhile he decided he would cut the grass.He ran over every pine tree and every flower bed, cutting everything down,except for the RED VERBENA'S and the ZINNIA'S.it turned out they was the only thing he thought was pretty..anyway, I injoy my flowers and make a lot of trips outside to look at them,,, RITA: Thank you, that IS a gorgeous bloom, isn't it? I just love it. MICHELLE; To me, its much better then waking up on xmas morning,altho, the last few years,xmas has been more injoyable.I just love the spring now,when the daylilies are growing and we start hunting for scapes,waiting for that first bloom... Jean

Smoky Mountain Autumn was one I got last spring and hope to see it bloom this year. I think your are right about it not being a great performer. I think I have two scapes and the same spindly two fans that I bought last year. But your picture gives me hope:) Vickie

Rita: If I call him Mr.Toad he got that frown on his face. Maybe its a guy thing LOL. Julie from WI: Thanks for the ID of the orange flower. I'll look up the information online.I planted it last year. Its a gorgeous orange color and quite striking in the garden. Jan: I'm very pleased with Geechee Sunset. I know you and I think Tom posted pics last year and that sold me on it. The color is exactly as you see in the photo. Very deep and it was open this morning at 6:00am when we had low 50's temps. I'm hoping the rest of the blooms look as deeply saturated as this one. Cooler temps maybe? Julie from PNW: Will post more of IP as it keeps blooming. Julia

Annie, those blinds are lovely, but I expect just one would consume my budget for the room. Karens, thanks for the suggestion about moving the desk to behind a sofa. I tried it behind both - by the entry and by the dining - and neither really retains a good view out the window. I could see the TV & converse, but I'd rather gaze out to water. I have this thing about vistas (spent my formative years in a rocker looking at the ocean). Ineffable, pulling the desk out a couple inches may be the ticket. I'd still be able to mount a monitor screen on the wall and tuck the desktop & peripherals in nearby cabinets. The desk chair can be extra seating, and the larger chair can swivel toward the window for view/reading. Simple, flexible. I like it. So: Divided panels stacked each side. Think I can mix sheers at slider with blind/sheers at window? Oh, and while I swore off glass & dark woods for maintenance ease, we may take along our vintage chrome/glass swiveling tables - so convenient for service and visually light. They would solve there being little space for side tables.