It's funny, the one called "Blue Ice" from the link looks like one I already have that was growing in my garden naturally. That is, I think it was a cross that developed from different varieties of phlox I had planted in a new bed. It definitely wasn't from the previous owner, since they only had one stand of traditional lavender/pink tall garden phlox and that was at the opposite side of yard, about 100' away. I absolutely love the distinctive cross-bred phlox that I discovered in my garden. It's very pretty. I moved it last year to a more sunnier spot so that it could grow bigger. I will divide it in a couple years to have more of these gems. I have a collection of Phlox that look very similar to "Bright Eyes," some brighter than others, some I often mistake for "David's Lavender." These bright pink-eyed Phlox too just occurred from natural cross-breeding. I didn't do a thing. In fact, 2 Springtime's ago, I recall that I noticed many new baby Phlox growing all over my big perennial bed out in frontyard. Of course, I let them grow to see what colors they would be and I was pleasantly surprised. Well, thank you so much for your help. I'm satisfied now that I have a good variety of phlox in colors that are very pleasing. Of course, the fragrance is wonderful as always. I am through with my desperate search for "Blue Ice" Phlox! By the way, I have a picture (yes, probably fake) of the Blue Ice Phlox that I saved from the nursery website, if you'd like to see it. Just let me know.

Oh sure, silversword, you have to recommend Gardenias and then give me that post to read. Ha! Ha! I only made it as far as the August 3rd posts, but I intend to read a little more at each sitting. Boy is it funny/eye opening. I, being a Gemini, get bored easily and can't finish things so I just skimmed a little to see how far the thread went. I happened upon the reply from "Jim" who was giving his wife a Gardenia bush for Mother's Day and then he was printing out the entire thread and writing "sorry" on top of it and running. That was so funny! I guess I am pretty stupid because even after reading all that, I am going to have to get a Gardenia at some point. I was sold on the description of the scent. I am just not sure I will actually try to grow one. I would probably do better to just have one and toss it aside like the Freesia. For some reason anything I try to actually put love into and take care of, dies on me, whereas anything I just neglect thrives. Perhaps my plants are suicidal too. The title of the thread reminded me of something Jerry Seinfeld says in his book Seinlanguage and it makes me laugh every time I read it: "I have no plants in my house. They won't live for me. Some of them don't even wait to die, they commit suicide. I once came home found one hanging from a macrame noose, the pot kicked out from underneath. The note said, "I hate you and your albums." It's so funny to think of plants as human. I'm screwed though because I am definitely a sucker for a good-smelling plant. The house we bought has some kind of lilac that blooms in the spring and fall. It is pathetic looking (not like back home) but I never grow tired of smelling it and reminding me of home. And I love the Freesia because it smells like Froot Loops (which reminds me of my childhood). The roses that I dug up were sad looking and not very pretty plus the fragrance was not that great. The funny thing is that I have NEVER been a flower person. My husband likes to do romantic gestures like buy flowers for me, but he won't buy roses on Valentine's Day because they cost much more than any other day of the year. So he likes to surprise me with flowers some other day. I am fine with that because we have a cat who tries to eat ANYTHING that looks like plant matter. I can't even have Easter grass in baskets because the dummy will eat it. So roses cannot be enjoyed because they have to spend so much time behind closed doors and I am not really one of "those" women who requires candy and flowers on Valentine's Day or birthdays, etc. I might give that Little John some consideration somewhere around the house because I adore watching the hummingbirds. :-)

@noseometer...(7A, SZ10, Albuquerque) From all I've ever heard, Bobby James is a wonderful rose. But it IS a house eater. I wonder if it's so vigorous that it rapidly outgrows a ship-able size? It might be a matter of timing it between, "OK, it has rooted" to "wow, that won't fit in a box", lol. Of course the rose could be pruned, but that's another step in the "shipping and handling" that's not necessary for most other roses. I'm sure the reason it's scarce is NOT that it's hard to propagate. It is a hybrid wichurana, which tend to root very easily. But it could just be that there's not historically been enough demand for it. Nurseries grow the roses they can sell. P.S. For anyone who is reading the whole thread, I DID get my Prairie Peace, and it's going to be spectacular. This last Spring (2022) was its third here, and it had at least 30-40 flowers, and it's becoming a more graceful shrub with time. Worth.Every.Penny. (And it was a LOT of pennies, lol) EDIT: I just checked HMF, and supposedly Roses Unlimited carries Bobby James. I checked, and it's listed on the website. You'd have to call to see if she really has it this year.

I can't really tell what is going on with that larger second story window, but if you have the budget, I would change it out to match the style of all the other windows. Agree with ditching the too-small-to-be-attractive shutters, but I would beef up the trim around the windows in their place. Paint the downspouts to blend in with the siding. I think a porch across at least the original living space side would be nice, if you don't mind having the windows shaded (I would miss sun coming in my front windows). Because of the poor quality photo, I can't tell what that is in between the overgrown shrub and the front door. In any case those shrubs need to be replaced with a mix of evergreens, perennials, flowering shrubs that won't grow above the windowsills (unless you can keep up with pruning) - probably you can get help with a plan at a local nursery.