We definitely plan to keep everything trimmed rather than billowy and do plan to mulch the entire area.Just trying to figure out what ground cover and perennials to add before it gets mulched. We have 3 ft for the roses to grow up to the windows and like you said wouldn't be bad if they came up past the window a little. I will recheck the depth from the wall, we may have them too close. You are right about the Nandinas. I couldn't remember which one I wanted Firepower or Harbor Dwarf and it was the latter so will change them out. I saw them today with rose shrubs and laurels and they looked great. I actually was interested in a loose shrub by the door behind the boxwoods but couldn't think of something that would look appropriate. Wasn't sure if the camelia could work there or a viburnum? Any suggestions? Thanks.Glad you caught the Nandina mistake.

Just wonderful to see new ones in bloom, isn't it? I love Sp. Sea Shells every time I see it. The green on the second Paul Owen seedling really looks nice. A guy at work wanted a green daylily and I told him that most are yellow with a greenish cast. Well, this one appears to be as close to green as I've seen. Vickie

Ok, I'll jump in. This was taken in early November on my Dads 95th birthday. Dad and Mom celebrated their 62nd anniversary in September. Standing from l to r is my wife, Sue,(she posts here as Bigbaby occasionally), me, my brother, Joel, and his wife, Nancy. Ron

What a great kitchen! The main piece of advice I would offer is this: get rid of excess plastic containers. I had zillions of rubbermaid containers that didn't nest at all. I thought I needed every shape and size out there, so I bought far more than I could ever use. After we renovated our kitchen, I gave myself one drawer for plastic stuff. That's it. Now, it's a big drawer, but I have a family of nine people, so we still need quite a bit. First, I tossed or gave away that which would not nest. I standardized on 8" squares that fit into one another. I bought 6 of these and I've never needed more. All the lids are the same size. I have deep rectangular rubbermaid containers for holding flour and sugar in my baking cabinet. I have round containers for lunch boxes: my husband takes leftovers for lunch every day and reheats them in these lightweight containers that are as sturdy as regular rubbermaid. In this drawer I also store two rubbermaid butter dishes, three nesting funnels, 2 two-quart plastic pitchers, 2 small mixing bowls and 2 large mixing bowls, plus about 12 measuing cups from 4-cup to 1/4-cup in size. The key for my kitchen is that any plastic container we have is in this drawer. So I've gone from cupboards and drawers of plastic containers and measuring supplies to one single drawer. I will add that I have a plastic pasta scoop and larger colander that I store under the prep sink. I never save even the nicest of plastic containers that food might come in. If we ever need more, I can use a storage container from another part of the house, wash it out, then put it back when I'm done (like when I need to bring 60 cupcakes to school). I've also done the same sort of thing for lunch boxe supplies and ingredients. I have a baking center, which is to the right of the oven. My baking center is really just an upper cabinet with wire storage things inside that make it easy to cram a lot of stuff in a 30" wide cabinet. I do store extra baking mixes and flour/sugar in my lazy susan cabinet. I don't have a pantry. All of our health food is in another cabinet, near the blender where we make our protein shakes. I bought white plastic wirer coated shelves at the container store to stack dishes and baking goods in those cupboards. And also these tall, narrow two shelf units that fit under my sinks which sit next to the plumbing. They aren't really deep but just hold the basics in view (stuff tends to migrate to the back of the sink cabinet). I also got rid of excess pots and pans. I figured that if my pots and pans couldn't fit into one base cabinet, that I would have a hard time keeping tabs on those as well. My baking pans and cutting boards store vertically in a cabinet designed to hold tall thin items. You have so much wonderful space. If you can be judicious with how you plan your storage, you will find that you can even keep major seasonal items in your pantries as well, or gift wrap, etc. In fact, it looks like you could even put a desk in one of your pantries. Lucky you!