My original business plan was to publish a gardening newspaper for this immediate area. I spent years compiling all the data. I worked up samples and walked them around to local garden themed businesses. Plenty of people were impressed (I was shy of my goal, but close to half of those approached supported the idea of a newspaper). After a few months of investing heavily into it the interest from the businesses waned. They weren't making much money selling such a low priced item (and it featured ads from their competitors). Within two years I was shutting it down due to lack of distribution points, not intrest from the public. I had to have places to sell it to the public in order to stay in business and every month or so I would lose another distributor. I might add that I was doing all the work - so even if little money was being made, they weren't extending any effort (I stocked, delivered, collected, billed with a S.A.S.E., heck I even dusted the counter tops). Another disappointment was that the gardening publics interest was insatiable during the spring but non existant during the heat of summer. In addition to the newspaper I had printed up a gardening calendar with week by week advice on what to do in your garden. I had a truckload of them to get rid of and hated to just throw them away. So I got a "drop in" spot at the local flea market and tried selling them. They moved a little but my bigger success came from selling the plants I had brought along to decorate the booth! So my business name stayed the same but I shifted gears into plant sales instead of publishing. In my fantasy world I would rather be the garden guy at the market with edible food crops for backyard farmers. Seedlings, rooted cuttings of herbs, fruit and veggies from around the world. But the market that is the most convenient for me to sell at doesn't have enough of those types of customers. The result is that I sell a lot of ornamentals and not many functional plants. I believe it will change and that it will only take time. The one component that no one told me when I started all this was the amount of time it takes to build up a clientele. You have to be patient, there are few overnight success stories.

I am in the process of completing my son's nursery/bedroom. I have decided to go with a theme of 'primary colours' plus green:) So the walls are white and colour is being added through the furniture. Currently i have a large set of drawers painted green, a wooden crate on the wall painted red and a small set of drawers also red. The door has been painted blue, with the panels being done in chalkboard paint. The curtains are white with red, yellow, green and blue pom pom trim. There are various pictures framed in yellow, green, blue and red. My question is regarding the wardrobe. I have just acquired one from a charity shop and I am undecided as to how to paint it. Should I go with yellow, or should I paint it white and add colour to it through stencils - for example, perhaps a bunting stencil with green, blue, red and yellow flags? Any and all advice greatly appreciated! Thanks

Ohhhh....this is gonna be so CUTE! I totally agree with bringing the curtains right up to the bottom of the bulkhead. It will make for a much more streamlined look. My only thought is that I think that where you have the level of the alphabet-rail it a tad too high. Don't feel compelled to go with the height of the bulkhead for your rail. Just ignore its existence. Look at Sarah's photo--she does not even do the letters over the curtains. I'd bring the rail down to the level that the current cornice. Then your letters will not look jammed up there either. I think it would do a lot to help the room feel less "tall" as well. Does this make any sense at all, LOL!

The plant is ok, there's nothing wrong with it. It's just producing large amounts of anthocyanin (red pigments) in the leaves maybe in response to the large amount of sun it gets. Actually the flowers can fade on cloudy days because it doesn't get enough sun i think.