Yes, I have seen them used for bonsai. But keep in mind that most traditional "bonsai" plants (pines, junipers, etc.) DO NOT make good houseplants for the average overheated, dry winter home. Traditional bonsai plants need a very cool but frost free location to overwinter. If you've ever seen the collection at the Brooklyn Botanical you'll notice that they are kept in a separate greenhouse area that can provide the lower winter temps they require. You can use tropical or subtropical plants for a "bonsai" effect as well and these will do fine indoors (Ficus, Schefflera, and many others). As far as I know, Crype Mytles are deciduous. (I have read that they are even deciduous in Miami. So a bonsai specimen would be deciduous as well.) I suspect that day length must come into play with respect to flowering. Mine always seem to flower from about late July through September (don't recall quite when they stop). The surprise to me was how unbelievably colorful the leaves when whey change (bright shades of orange, red, and yellow! They seem to quite hardy and popular in NJ and metro NYC area so you should not have a problem with hardiness (but they are somewhat late to leaf out in the Spring.) They'll pretty easy actually.

I've read that propagation from root suckers is best done in the spring but in my stubborness I cut 3 suckers (white) yesterday, potted them and am keeping them moist in the greenhouse. Plesantly surprized this morning while working in the greenhouse to find 2 of the 3 sucker plantings finally showing new growth! Took 6 weeks. Still high and dry in MWC with our first frost of the season Wednesday morning. I didn't cover up the night before because the wind was so strong the covers would have probably blown to Texas by morning. I got lucky with only so slight frost burn on a couple of tomatoes and the squash. That afternoon a couple of the Superfantastic even had multiple blooms. Looks like I'll make it to next Wednesday (by the forecast)then harvest the green beans and squash for Thanksgiving. Probably a couple hundred of green tomatoes and several peppers. All and all with the fall planting and rejuvination of the tomatoes, I had a decent year despite all of the setbacks. Keith

Of course you can lay the new on the old. A solution for the molding is to put quarter round down. A little more work but not much. With regard to problems seeping into new tiles. This can happen. My vinyl has a slowly growing stain. In time that damage will make its way to the new product. Personally, not worth taking a chance. I would rather remove the old and put the new stuff down fresh. There are many shows where they remove several layers of peel and stick so it is obviously something that is done by many. Whether it is proper installation or not is another question. My dh has a saying we stick by, not trying to be rude or anything, but if you are going to do a job right, do it right the first time. Most of our jobs end up taking longer, costing a few dollars more (which I do not always have) but in the end come out beautifully.

Thanks, Toronado. I may or may not. I haven't decided. I really wanted a Crape Myrtle tree but that's apparently not going to happen. I've already prepared the areas around the house for the plants and Shrubs I've ordered. There really isn't anywhere I could put a Crape Myrtle shrub. I do have one spot appx. twelve feet long by six feet wide that is currently occupied by what looks to me to be a Weeping White Mulberry tree. Some idiot planted this weeping tree three feet from the garage foundation and two feet away from a sidewalk. The tree roots cracked and heaved the sidewalk last year but haven't yet affected the garage foundation. The top of the tree is brushing against the roof, which is nine feet above ground level. I'm going to remove the sidewalk, the small concrete patio and the weeping tree next year. I'm going to have a friend bring his trackhoe onto the property and dig down deep enough with the bucket to remove the weeping tree with the hopes of saving it and replanting it elsewhere. I'm fairly certain that he can remove it in such a manner that the majority of the root structure will remain intact. You can see the weeping tree in the photo included with this post. This is the south side of the house. All the other shrubs and trees you see in the photo were removed last year and the beds are bare. This photo was taken in the late afternoon and as you can see that particular area, the east side of the garage, does not get afternoon sun. It gets about four hours of morning sun. For this reason I don't think Crape Myrtles would do very well there as they wouldn't get enough sun. It's my understanding that Crape Myrtle shrubbery also needs to be planted farther away from structures. I suppose for this area I'll have to plant some shade loving shrubbery. I would want shrubbery that either flowers, has berries or has colorful leaves, leaves that either do or do not change with the seasons. Although I know that it would probably make a landscape architect cringe, I don't particularly care for needle leaf shrubbery, for contrast reasons or otherwise, although I have some on the north side of the house that will remain. The area you see that is still getting afternoon sun is where the Azaleas will be planted. This bed for the Azaleas doesn't get full sun all day, as you may think by looking at the photo. As the sun tracks over the house this area gets about six hours of morning/early afternoon sunlight and about four hours of sunlight that is broken up by some fairly large Oak trees on my property and the property of the neighbor to the east of me, trees that you can't see in this photo. I suppose this is called dappled sunlight. I would appreciate any suggestions for what would do well in this afternoon shaded area, the area from the weeping tree to the garage man door. I have no intention of building a deck in the future so that doesn't enter into the equation. As I mentioned, the small concrete patio will be removed.