I don't think there is anything wrong with fake dormers if it fits in a particular situation. To say that only attributes which are functional should be added to a house is absurd - and I doubt there is a single participant on these threads who doesn't have interior trim or other things which serve little to no functional purpose. Eh, thing is, the trend today seems to be, "A fancy house with lots of gee-gaws is a nicer, more impressive house -- no matter if they serve a purpose or not!" With that statement, I do not agree.

they are not attractive to me at all unless in bloom, which is about two weeks. ron's description of the summer habit with long tentacles going in all directions is spot-on as well as the ground hugging cables that require seriously sharp pruning equipment (not all seem to do this unless you remove too much from the top). the shoots reach a stage that becomes sinewy and don't cut easily. i am still working to eradicate one that i trained as a standard and decided to take out. after i cut the trunk, sprouts started coming up everywhere, running just beneath the surface from the base to 15' away. it may behave well for you in your colder zone and i can certainly see the attractiveness of it but it behaves badly here and is one of the worst exotic invasives we have. the white-flowered form is much more uncommon in natural areas. having said that, here is a photo i took of one at a friends house that he planted after digging it up along a roadside. this one is probably chinese wisteria with the lighter bark and april flowers. should be about 9-10 years old.

I've got a love affair with a color I matched from an antique book case my sister gave me. Sadly, it has no name, but is known to me as Janna's color. It's a stone color, (no pink whatsoever) or maybe an oyster, or maybe both, but light enough to fall into the white category. I painted my living room Duron's Backpack, which is a gray green that looks gray in one light, greenish in another, dark green in yet another, but never the same. I find all the swatches I've painted on other walls (lots of big squares of color) tend to be something that matches that, even though I'm trying to expand my color choices! I'm also IN LOVE with some vibrant coral color that was a 15 year old Martha Stewart swatch. Lost that long ago, but just looooooooove it. I've used it to paint the inside of cabinets and drawers. I'm into SW Urbane Bronze for some mudroom cabinets I'm painting (maybe with Martha's coral on the inside..!) and back sunporch woodwork. LOVE IT. Makes me warble an, "ooooohhhhhoooooo" every time I look at these colors!

Sheila, I call the compliments as I see 'em! :-) Those queens you mentioned are my inspirations, too. Very much. Jin, I wish I did grow RJG. Catspat grows a wonderful specimen, and Ingrid also grows a beautiful RJG, although hers is a younger plant. They can provide so much more info than I can. A while back, I had a "Not RJG," probably the only mislabeled rose I ever received from Vintage in all the years I ordered from that wonderful company. If I add another Tea to my garden someday, it WILL be M Schwartz or RJG...or Devoniensis now that Perma has reminded me why I love that rose so much. And speaking of Teas/Tea-Noistettes, Marechal Neil is such a gorgeous if possibly finicky thing. If only. That one may eternally be a rose I enjoy in Sheila's photos, but I do encourage anyone to grow it if you think it might thrive in your location. Oh, and ditto Gloire de Dijon. :-) Carol