Posting something just to make this go away. Reposted about it with photos. Diane

Amy - I go walkabout my garden every morning/afternoon and mentally move plants around for a more pleasing appearance. I figure that at some point I'll find the time to actually, physically move them but I don't let it stress me out when the seasons pass and nothing has changed. With a garden, things grow and change at their own pace so I don't worry that it's not 'picture perfect.' Maybe someday it will please the eye, maybe it won't, but whether that happens is secondary to having a garden where I have the option to change it any way I like. Re the astilbes: I grow them in groups of three plants, all in part sun. They get midday sun but morning and afternoon dappled shade. As long as I keep them watered, they do fine. I wish they bloomed longer but they're still one of my favorite perennials. My Virginia bluebells are gorgeous in spring but by the end of May they've completely disappeared and there's no trace of them. I'm wondering if what you've got is something other than VBB. Here's what mine looked like this year: Whenever I start feeling like all I do is garden, I stop and back up a few steps and think about how much I enjoy gardening and why. I hate the heat and the bugs and the aching muscles and don't particularly enjoy watering during dry spells but it's all part of the experience. I just put up with the bad because the good brings me so much pleasure & satisfaction.

Melinda, do you have any pictures you can post? That would help us a lot. Do you have paint samples of the two colors in question? You can do a sample board and see how they look together before you start painting the walls. Would you be happy with eggplant for 5-10 years in the kitchen if you hate to paint very often? Is there a logical place to stop one color and start the other? I do like the striking combination of purple and green. Keep posting! And welcome to GW.

Just wanted to update to say how happy I am with the cages I chose. My Burpee Pro 48" cages are essentially the same cage as the Gurneys, just in a different color. I experimented with a couple of different ways of using them (and the EBs) based on all the comments in this thread. Jeri - sorry to hear about your tomato/cage damages. Mine have been very sturdy so far. Here's what I did: For most of the EBs, I put 2 square cages to a box, side by side, but installed them upside down, with the flat (upper) edge against the EB and the "legs" in the air. I gained more height this way, and I didn't have to poke holes through the plastic covers or let the legs hang over the edge. I also experimented with Dave's method of planting, by planting in the center of the box, leaving off the plastic, and covering with pine mulch. I did 2 boxes of La Roma III as a comparison, one the EB way, and one Dave's way. To hold the cages on to the EB, I used the rim clamps that come with the EB and clamped the edge of the cage onto the edge of the EB. I then wired the two cages together at the top using green floral wire. The cages are remarkably sturdy like this. I also planted a couple of boxes using two plants in a single diamond cage. For these, I put the cages in right-side-up, and pushed the legs into the EB as deep as they would go (which was up to the first rung). The plants are really really big now (bigger than I ever expected!) and I've had no issues with any of the cages falling off or blowing over or anything. I even have two plants, which I have marked as Charger, but I wonder if I didn't tag them wrong, because they are really tall and outgrowing the top of the upside down cage. The deck is like a jungle now (the pictures don't really capture how huge these plants feel), and I fear these boxes are way too crowded together. Now I need to find a way to get more room and spread them out!