You are getting there :-)) You will have an entirely different perspective once you get the black pots elevated. And you can always add more color with flowering plants. What happened to the white/cream colored containers? You could mix them in with the black ones to make more of a statement. The pots in the middle photo (mostly blue tones) are still too lined up. btw, the groupings do not need to be equal in impact or quantity :-)

When we were building, we put our house on the market and sold it the first week. The buyers needed to close within 90 days or lose their quoted mortgage rate so we closed in September although our house wasn’t going to be ready until January. We rented our house back from them but here’s the deal with that. Unlike a normal renter/tenant agreement, we would have been responsible if anything broke, such as furnace, stove, etc. When January came, our new house was not even close to being ready but the owners wanted their house. It was hard to find housing for less than a year lease but we were lucky our builder had another development of apartments that we rented for five months until our house was ready. The stress was incredible, moving twice during that time and we had to put most of our furniture in storage. This time, we just bought a condo and now have to list our home. I’m not sure which is more stressful. I wish you luck on your move.

As I mentioned before my property was damaged in a fire and while I was fixing the place I wanted to somehow update the curb appeal. Many of you said the exterior wasn't a pressing issue. I've kinda cooled on the concept of a ventilation curtain cladding but still want some improvements to the front rooftop deck to make it more usable in the hot summer months and to provide some protection from the rain and wind. Do you think a shade structure up there will enhance or detract from the look of the place? I did my best to photoshop it into place. I'd use curtains to soften it and to make it more cabana-like. It is a louvered roof that opens to for more of a slatted trellis. I also need to raise the handrails about 8 inches to make it safe up there so maybe I'd add 1-foot tall ombre sand-blasted panels of glass that gives the effect of white smoke rising around the rails. BTW... I can make that shade structure up there ANY color I want. The frame can be one color and the interior roof with the paddles closed can be another. If I do it I would match the frame to the existing galvanized metal and make the ceiling white. Any input would be appreciated!

Since we don't really know the growing conditions, it is hard to speculate on what is the problem (if any). I would suggest that instead of watering on a weekly schedule, water only when you need to. And that will be determined by the potting media and indoor conditions. I have copied Al's (tapla) great instructions for using a "tell" to determine when to water. By far the best method to judge watering needs if not very familiar with both the plant and the media. "Start using a 'tell' to 'tell' you when it's time to water and things will probably straighten out. It won't be over-night, but you should start to see a difference right away. Using a 'tell' Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue."