Talking about color and the use of color in the garden is one of those things that tends to put people in defensive/hostile mode because it's difficult at times to clearly describe what exactly one means when talking about color and the use of color in the garden. So things get misinterpreted or overly simplified as each person brings their own biases and interests to interpret what was said. There is (an annoying :-) ) tendency in some quarters to dismiss color - particularly flowers - as a sort of frivolous, unimportant 'icing on the cake' element in designing a garden. That sort of dismissal of color irritates me greatly. But it also irritates me when the 'any color goes with any other' sort of line is thrown out as an oversimplification. Because the perception of a color can very much depend on what color it is partnered with. Change the partner and you change the effect. So, for me, how I use color in the garden/where I place a particular plant depends on what effect I want to create there. In my early gardening days I went through the polychrome 'anything goes' color phase but became unhappy with that because I began to see, as GP1 said above: ' "Too much color is the equivalent of no color at all". It becomes like a street lined with billboards each competing for attention and no color stands out. ' Now I try to think through what I need to do to create a desired color effect. I don't always get it right - and it can take years to gradualy change the plantings to get to where I want to go - but it has made a noticeable improvement (to me at least!) in my gardening outcomes. GP1 - as a trained artist, you (and the gardening artists in your neighbourhood) probably intuitively use color in your gardens to create desired effects whereas for plebes like me it's something that requires deliberate thought and 'misses the mark' more often! :-) Playing with color to create effects is fun - and not limited to gardening :-) Below is a picture of DH wearing a 'tumbling blocks' sweater I knit about 17 years ago. I was aiming for an 'autumn leaves' color effect. Not perfect by any means but it's still one of his favorite sweaters. The link below is to a Google image seach that shows other sweaters of the same design in different color combinations (the fifth one is DH's sweater....) so you can see how different the sweater looks depending on what colors are used and how they are combined. And that brings me to the issue of 'rules' and styles etc. 'Rule' is one of those words that also immediately gets one's back up because most of us don't particularly like the idea of being ruled! :-) Styles tend to imply a lack of originality - a 'follow the herd' sort of mentality and we all want to be thought of as individuals. But understanding what a particular 'rule' is trying to achieve, and the consequences of breaking it is useful when assessing whether it helps or hinders what you are trying to achieve. 'Rules' can be a sort of distilled 'wisdom'/short cuts that can be useful in getting you where you want to go without having to reinvent the wheel each time! Styles, in a gardening sense, are often a response to particular times, places, cultures environments, etc. Understaning why they are/were popular can be very useful in helping you decide which styles - or elements of a style - can be used or adapted to positive effect in your own garden. That's one of the reasons I like to read widely in garden history - the more I know, the clearer I see what appeals to me and how to achieve it. Certainly my interests and tastes have changed over time but change is a constant in the garden so I'm always looking for ideas that I can incorporate - harmoniously - in the garden. The constant that drives my garden is the desire for it to have a peaceful and harmonious feel while still being a vibrant space. Here is a link that might be useful: tumbling block sweaters

YAHOO!!! I lost 2lbs!!! WOW!! I love the WW's scale compared to CURVES!! I will not get on it again~~~well, I have to Monday to get weighed and measured:) I know I have lost inches, I tried on alot of my tops that I used to look like a sausage in and WOW they looked good:) After WW's I went shopping I want a new pair of jeans to wear next weekend when my Sweetie and I go off on our 3 day anniversary trip:) But, I do not want to pay much I am maybe just about ready to go down a size:) I tried on some of those panties that hold your tummy in just a bit LOL!!! They just gave me an extra roll so I put them back. I worked out 5 days this week, drank more water and really watched portion controll I think it paid off. I keep wondering don't we get to a point where we stop losing or have to eat less??? I am afraid the goal weight that want is too low for me:( Have a fun weekend my CURVES pal and I are going to a quilt sale and show, then too lunch~~~salad for me with dressing on the side YEAH!!!

Patty_V, sorry you think I came off bossy. I certainly didn't mean to. Of course it's hard rearranging furniture - we're in our 60's and a recent re-arrangement of our MBR and LR furniture required two appts with a pro mover who specializes in small moves, as well as 15 min from some younger friends who had to help my DH hold up a teak bookcase while I reset and screwed in the back so it would stop slipping off. Ah, the things DH and I used to do all by ourselves....now we plan things better :). I rearranged our own LR, not because I had to, but because I was tired of it after 26 yrs and it was never quite "right". So I thought the OP felt similarly about her front room. She did not put in any qualifiers in her post, if you will recall, regarding furniture placement. Keeping the loveseat where it is to look at the bunnies is very sweet (I was born in the Year of The Rabbit, in fact - go bunnies!). Ingrid's made some minor changes to the FR, and I do like it better. Her beautiful vases are much more easily seen and appreciated. We collect Asian art and mineral specimens. Every couple of years I move things around. It keeps the eye "fresh".

Everything you mentioned is something where someone or something is being hurt... When I see people dressed as in the "befores" I posted above, I do see someone being hurt. Just because they are hurting themselves and have every right to do it, doesn't mean it doesn't send a message and evoke an emotional reaction. With the many makeovers on "what not to wear" and other programs, there were some common themes including some women felt a need to show a lot of skin to attract men, but then couldn't understand why they were attracting the wrong kind of man. Some women had low self esteem and never felt that they were beautiful or attractive. Some women simply had no idea of how they were perceived. Others didn't do better because they didn't know how. One woman who had been an exotic dancer was told that her street wear was perfect for that job. She was the one who pinned a raccoon tail to her backside. After her makeover she dumped her loser boyfriend, went back to school, and made a career for herself. She said that none of that would've happened if she hadn't gotten the makeover which showed her she was more deserving of respect from herself.