Woodyoak, I certainly always enjoy working with clients that like bold color in the garden, but have a hard time with those who also insist on roses! It is particularly easy to use color in the landscape here in California; as we have the bright light, year round growing climate, and the ability to use subtropicals, succulents, temperate plants, etc in unique combinations that are only possible as summer annuals or container plantings in more severe climates. I do tend to find myself biased against some long time traditional plants used here in the northern California landscape, as they don't seem as well adapted to current conditions, or have developed diseases that tend to mar their beauty. In that respect, Camellia japonica is not one of my favorites, as the flowers are almost always disfigured by petal blight these days. Most Rhododendrons are also suspect in my view, too many get disfiguring thrips that mar the foliage, or look tortured from lack of ideal conditions, they don't gracefully accept our drier summers and lack of rains. Roses, except for a few, generally don't have the form to look good in a garden when out of bloom, and I hate getting pricked by them, moreso than any of the other various spiney things I do enjoy growing. Fall blooming Chrysanthemums are another pet peeve, with an all too short bloom season for the amount of space they take up and pinching they require to keep them in bounds. I've never understood why the fall blooming asters aren't equally popular,(I really do know why, they can be rather thuggish in a border), or less common but equally beautiful fall bloomers like Nerine bowdenii. In general, I am most attracted to those flowering things outside of the spring season. I want to see flowers in the dead of winter, which would give me a reason to venture out into the cold and the wet to experience them. And if you can incidentally combine subtle or strong fragrance with late season bloom, this combination in particular gets to my own heart and soul... Color in the landscape is something that speaks to me in its own language. While the deep greens of a lush northern forest or a japanese style garden can be beautiful, it is not a style I would seek to surround myself with. Give me the brilliant jewel tones of massively blooming bougainvillea against stucco walls and azure skies, the steely blue foliage of a Blue Hesper Palm, a sweep of deep blue Blue Chalk Sticks/Senecio mandraliscae set against the deep purple black foliage of Aeonium 'Schartzkop', or the equally intense nearly black foliage of the Purple Smoke bush, etc, etc. Vivid color in plants and trees is all around us, and there to be exploited visually in gardens in any climate. In fact, in some of the most severe climates, massive displays of color seem to outdo themselves; such as the west coast deserts(Namaqualand) of South Africa or the Sonoran deserts of southern Arizona in early spring bloom, or the alpine meadows of the Sierra Nevada or Rocky's in June/July after snow melt. I also enjoy seeing strangely incongruent color combinations such as hillsides full of Euphorbia dendroides in red leaf in May in Crete, ready to go dormant for the dry season and giving an early taste of fall color to the landscape. This is a plant that is found growing across much of the mediterranean, but never seems to have made it into gardens looking for compatible plantings below the Olive trees, but they belong together. In the same way, some of the most vividly blooming subtropical trees also bloom when they are naked of leaves, and are much more dramatic as a result. Tabebuias, Jacarandas, Chorisias all come to mind as examples of this phenomenon, or our more typical spring blooming stone fruits or California natives such as our Aesculus californicus. If you are really attracted to bold use of color in the landscape, it is worth getting more familiar with the Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx's work. At his best, he was a master of using plantings much as paints to create modernist gardens full of swirling and contrasting colors. Certainly he has influenced current american landscape architects such as Oehmes and Van Sweden as well, who design plantings in similar large blocks, but with temperate plant materials. It does seem as if many landscape designers and architects are not familiar enough with the planting possibilities to effectively use flowers and color to their maximum impact. Or could it also be that the use of color other than greens does not call out to them in the same way as it does to those who crave color? Don't apologize about your preferences, get out there and design something that makes people take note of the other possibilities, establish your own style and see whether you influence anyone to your point of view!

Hi I lovecacti..Tell me in e-mail and you are the last one that I have anything left for ..lol Everything has been spoken for and many already mailed out and I am SO happy they will find homes with members and friends who know what to do with them, and not in the dump.. Let me see if I can get more eventually from the same manager since he had a great time giving me the ones I already got..I'll bet deep down inside he was a plant lover too..:-) Chris, you know the one you liked, I sent you two smaller ones ASAP because they looked like they needed help right away. If they do not make it, I will send a larger one of two I have with no hesitation.. Mike

I'm going to respectfully disagree with the statement that you are a mismatch. There are too many questions here to assume that dreadful conclusion... I've been there, and I know that such things can be resolved. Questions you don't have to answer out loud: Is there any point in your relationship where you have had a stronger sex drive? Have you ever initiated sex? Do you find yourself attracted to other people? Does anything get your libido going? you mentioned that he works and wants (clearly) for you to stay home. Your mention of that preceeding stating the problem leads me to wonder what you believe or how you feel about that. Sometimes when we have the impression that someone else is going to do it all for us, it takes the responsibility off of us to "make" it happen, including your own pleasure. May seem odd, but it's true. If your husband were to come to you and say, I'm not going to expect, want or initiate sex any more. It's all in your court now... My guess is that you would see him in a new light, you would no longer feel manipulated (He's not necessarily manipulating you now but you "feel" that way on your dates) and you would begin to discover your own sexuality. Not having an orgasm can make sex complicated - know that this is not totally abnormal, and it IS solveable. It has everything to do with intimacy, trust, control issues, etc-all things you can take charge of and change in your life. Sexual satisfaction is all in your head - and you have more control over what goes up there than anything. Sounds like you have a keeper - work on this one together, have lots of conversations about it. It can be solved!

I finally got this thread to load and it has left me absolutely floored! Everyone is SO talented! MrsMarv and Whitdobe, I'm thinking about making a couple of ottoman. Dealing with the bunching of fabric at the corners scares me a little so two might be getting some questions! Great projects! Cloe, love the shades. They turned out really well. AJ's, talk about whipping out the projects! I really need to get after things and cross stuff off my list. Your pictures are very inspiring. Iggy- that photo of the three bolts against the wall is beautiful. Your house looks wonderful even empty. Aktillery, I would hang that in my house in an instant! Do you do all of your art? ---- LOL, I just noticed. Is this happening on everyone else's monitor? Above each post, the title of the thread isn't quite how I intended! :OD