Ack! Knew I was going to miss something important, as I explained the problem. I forgot to mention it was the type of bush that doesn't get any bigger then 1' X 2', or 2' X 1'. (Can't remember, although it seems higher then wider.) That's one of the reasons why I picked this particular type for that container, so it wouldn't out grow it, or ever feel particularly crowded in. And, nope, my "yard" is nothing but concrete. Sidewalk out front where the Pink is, and 16' X 16' slab of concrete for a back yard. Good thing, I've grown to prefer container gardening. LOL Since I use containers, I'm also mindful that the plants need more water then plants grown in the ground, so it looked good all last summer and fall, even though you're right, it didn't start flowering until December.

Here you go Arum. enjoy. Fran these are from 2011. Didn't grow a lot but enjoy flying saucer, various blooms of her varied beauty Mt fugi fushia Need to locate the names of these And just for good measure some from 2010 blue silk suigetsu mt fugi lt pink mt fuji lt blue chocolate glory tye dye blue with sun streaming in from back of bloom. love how this looks chocolate silk mt fugi lt pink as the sun was starting to set. the light changed the whole color of the bloom in this pic

When biotechnology tried to improve the complex flavor of tomato, one approach that worked was to add a terpene-producing gene from lemon basil to enhance the flavor of tomatoes which commercially were produced with high water, high fruit to leaves ratios like you had. Short of becoming a mad scientist yourself, you can do this naturally deliciously by slow simmering your tomato in lemon basil with olive oil. If you really want to give it a bang, Thai recipes can incorporate fresh pounded lemongrass which is a similar concept enhancing the flavor, with a little olive oil and terpene oil flavors similar to what your tomato might have lost. The slower you cook it the better, because that will remove water and concentrate flavor, and the effect of the olive oil and low heat is to also extract lycopene and other related tomato terpenes which your taste buds will notice more once extracted more of a tomato taste... As for the sugars your tomatoes couldn't produce, you could always try adding guarape (or better yet fermented guarape) but I'm sure that's not for everyone! PC Here is a link that might be useful: The biotech attempt

I haven't read all the suggestions, but here are a things that popped in my mind immediately: LOVE the stone. The posts are too small. Replace them with beefier cedar. We used 6" x 8" and turned the 8" side toward the outside (visually give the appearance of an 8" x 8" but saves some money). Add cedar brackets. If you can't remove the posts, you can add cedar boards to each side to make them appear larger/like cedar posts. We have several on the upper/back of our home done like this that cover metal post (we used poured concrete as a base on all of our verandas). Add a beam against the house (far left) and if room, at the garage end wall if it doesn't narrow the walkway too much - or add a cedar board that's only a few inches thick. Clad the board that runs horizontal above the beams with cedar boards (also running horizontal). Replace the light next to the front door with a larger light fixture. I can't tell what the front door looks like, but a vintage looking wood door would be nice. Is that glass (not glass block) around the front door? I need to think about that. You could add a low stone wall that runs along the sidewalk but has some curves along the grassy side to help visually break up all the straight lines going on. Doesn't need to be tall, just three stones high would work. Since the end of the house is so wide, I would add a a substantial overhang over the garage and have it run over/past the main level window. Here are a few examples: The first 2 are from Christopher Architects. The last one is from Dungan Neguette. You can go to their websites for more ideas. McAlpine Tankersley is another excellent architectural source. Bobby McAlpine's book The Home Within Us not only has beautiful pictures, but is exquisitely written. Jack Arnold is another source. More decorative garage door. Get rid of 1 basketball goal (both if not used anymore). What about staining the driveway a color? I saw a pin on Pinterest where they used a "surprisingly easy task/technique using Behr Semi-Transparent Concrete stain in Tuscan Gold" from Home Depot to give an unfinished looking concrete floors a warm wash of honey-gold color. I would definitely add shutters too all the windows where they would be sized properly - should cover if closed. You could add a third pair, but closed, in the wall space between the two windows along the front sidewalk/porch. How do you feel about blue? Or green: You could add more interest to the gable by doing something like this, but keeping with your style: btw, if you live in the scorching South, a window box will need water once a day - twice during a heat wave. I look forward to seeing what you do! This post was edited by allison0704 on Wed, Mar 20, 13 at 20:18