I disagree about the money. I just spent some money on shrubs but I almost never spend money on perennials. I attend swaps and trade plants with local garden club members. Of course the trade offs are time and flexibility but I have gotten and given a lot of great free plants. Here are my Key ingredients for color during this transition period: Stela D'ora daylilies - they are really giving a lot of color now, earlier than some of the other varieties. Coreopsis Grandiflora - I love the threadleaf kind too but it starts a little later. This is my first year with the grandiflora kind and it is really adding some nice color. Roses - my Golden Showers climber and Mary Rose shrub are blooming their hearts out and will continue through the summer. Both varieties are high maintenance but fragrant and long blooming. I am in zone 6 but I sit in a colder micro-climate and the flowers mentioned above have been blooming for about a week. In my shady bed my Chequers Lamium are still growing strong. They are re-blooming after a shearing a couple of weeks ago and make a nice blanket of color under my Kousa dogwood tree. Next I am on the lookout for Salvia - I've see it blooming all around my neighborhood and it looks great!

Macv, from your knowledge it seems like you are in that line of business. I don't think you understand the customer's point of view and expectations from an architect or designer. I am a customer and have nothing to do with that line of business - which is why I hired someone who could guide me in this project. I would not need to hire someone if I knew everything. Regarding reimbursable payments, messenger service never came up, and we did not even think of this as a possibility because the very idea is so unfathomable. I interviewed several architects and designers, and all architects charged a % of construction which I was not comfortable with. This person was recommended by my highly recommended contractor. She had one reference whom I visited, who had nothing but good things to say about her. But that person was pregnant during construction and left everything to my architect, hence obviously not being privy to mistakes. My memory fails me here because its been two years since I hired her - I recall asking whether she was an architect but don't recall her response. I believe a designer can offer the same level of services except filing and inspection. On paper her plan looked good, we filed. The process seemed simple. Between filing and starting construction, I had to make several decisions for which I needed help. That is when I realized that she was incompetent. Around the same time I met an acquaintance who had renovated two years back and herself had a design degree (although she did not practice). I realized how little help I was getting from the old architect, and that I was right in feeling frustrated. She recommended her architect, whom I hired. My new architect spent a lot of time rectifying the old architect's mistakes. For example, the old architect recommended say a wall-mounted toilet which required a separate build-out - this build-out was not indicated on the plans, but the contractor needed this info. I should have done more research, but the whole point of hiring an architect was so that I don't have to spend as much time in research, since I did not have that much time. Also, given that I am not in that line of business, I am not expected to know such technical details. I would not have known of the mistakes had my new architect not needed to rectify them or contractor not pointed out. I found out more problems during construction. My old architect put one plan on paper which I accepted. If I was not happy, I did not get more ideas and she kept pushing me to her plan. She was extremely passive, showed up when she needed to, put things on a piece of paper, and sent the bill. My new architect gave me 5 recommendations and I chose one. If I was not happy, she gave me more recommendations, brainstormed with me, and we came up with solutions. She put me in touch with sources and places where I could see more stuff to help her understand my aesthetic. She gave me guidance. If I had not filed the plans, I would have fired the old architect. Because my plans were filed and I had received permits, I had no choice but to work with the old one.

Why not look into replacing it? As you say, it is difficult to find parts for and it is 25 years old. While I love natural fireplaces, I have to say it is really nice to use our gas fireplace. We just flip a switch and it comes on and makes the room toasty and warm. My mother had a natural fireplace, and we were always having to drag logs in and fiddle with the flames.

Ask the recycling shop. They'll let you know if they have a use for it, or they may want to collect it to insure there isn't a copy of the key floating around with theft potential.