Hey Houzi, I just saw your post. Thanks a lot, yes my trees seem to have survived. I'm starting to believe the Japanese Maples are much tougher trees than I thought earlier. This will be my 3rd summer with many of them and despite all the negative factors (deep planting, too much watering, hot weather etc... ) not even 1 died on me. I had little hope for many of them last fall as I had removed a major portion of their root system. Some of them I had even bare rooted and it looked as if it wouldn't survive with such a small root system. Now with better conditions hopefully, (hey at least they are planted closer to the "right way" this time with the visible root flare and raised bed) I have much higher hope than before that they will be present in my garden in the long term. The tree marked as Corralinum seems to be like a sango kaku although it is probably a seedling rather than a true type. I still enjoy it, with its shape and colour. The bark was much more pink in winter though. Here are a few before & after photos of only some of my trees which I had posted in this thread

When I bought my house some of my sills had been replaced with modern machine cut oak sills. My carpenter was doing some work and ended up milling new sills out of some beautiful maple for me. My house has oak floors, poplar trim, but original maple sills. I love the way he did it; I had to stain them to match the old carefully, but now you can't tell the difference between old and new. The modern sills were so out of place. But, if I could patch that corner with wood putty reasonably well, I'd keep it. There are a lot of lousy putties out there; I've had reasonable luck on small jobs with JB weld Kwikwood, and on larger projects, ConServ products (but that's a lotta $$$ for such a small patch, and I don't think you need to pay the big bucks for the performance characteristics of the conserv for an indoor application.) I like the look of a well-executed repair. I remember touring castles and mansions in Europe where things were carefully maintained or repaired instead of replaced; to me, it just contributed to the antique feel of the building, but in a cozy, not decrepit, way.

at a 1.48 each.. its probably not worth the gas back to return them ... back in the day .. i learned more winging it.. like you did ... than i ever did from a book ... no WWW to chicken little me into action ... lol ... they are perennials ... there is no reason they should not come back ... its also hail storm season .. and if you read forums.. you will find many peeps moaning that mother nature did the same as you did ... it might not be a bad idea.. to isolate them somewhere ... treat them ... and plant in fall .. as a newb.. lets be clear... just about everywhere.. but maybe the PNW ... july/august is not a great time to be planting ... yes it can be done ... but dont be surprised if they struggle or fail .. it took me about 20 years in the garden to realize... just because i bought it.. doesnt mean its the right planting season ... and if you dont have 20 to 100 pots for fall planting.. you arent trying very hard... lol ... moving and planting perennials... is done in spring and fall .. for the EASIEST time ... as your experience grows ... you can wing it more... mostly because if you lose them. you shrug and say oh well ... live and learn ... try not to panic in the garden.. it kinda defeats the whole purpose of meditating in the garden .... ken

Most succulents get darker color in appropriate amount of sun. There are many different sempervivums, more than 3000 named cultivars. Some are very similar looking. They are Alpines, and grow in mountains at approx. 3000-8000m. Maybe you would find some if you went for a hike in the mountains :) Plant that was red may have not get as much sun as it can take. SE exposure sounds good, but if there are any trees or buildings, they could filter some of the sun. Even some railings on the balcony could be obstructing the sun. Morning sun is usually not as intense. Ppl in warm zones have sometimes problems because of the heat, and keep them in shadier spots. I have them probably in too much sun, it is open area with E,S and west unobstructed exposure. I hardly ever water them, usually if it doesn't rain for about a week. Maybe you are watering to much? In Germany, the climate is good for them. I would keep them on the balcony whole year round. I see from the photos that they are growing well, and there are many offsets/chicks. In 2nd photo, many are very open: if plant wants more sunlight, it opens up - flattens, so there is bigger area to get the sun. Colors also lighten up, gets greener if plant was darker, or even very light green. This happens with many succulents. Here is photo of the same plant in poor light and in lots of sun: They should be acclimatized to stronger sun, or they get a sunburn. But now days are getting shorter, and sunlight is not as intense.