I live in the Texas Hill Country and have a madagascar palm I purchased about four years ago. It is planted in a 12" ceramic pot that is about 16" tall. The palm itself has grown to just under two feet. It gets below freezing here in the winter, so I move it into the house near huge windows for light. Even so, the palm loses all of its leaves during the winter. In the spring I move it back out onto the patio where it gets sun all day. This year it has not sprouted new leaves which worries me. In the pot around the base of the plant I planted some hens and chicken succulents. They are doing fine but I wonder if perhaps they are robbing nutrients from the palm. Is this OK or should I dig them out? Watering is a constant worry to me. I am afraid of overwatering, so perhaps I am not watering enough. Do I need to fertilize? When and how much? I am very fond of this plant and hope to have it for many years to come, but am concerned about the fact that it is not getting any leaves. The trunk is nice and hard, so I don't think it has root rot. I would appreciate any suggestions you may have. Thanks Pat in Comfort

Josh, I do have some Japanese Painted Ferns but what is shown is varagated Packasandra. Started with a few plants that take off from stem cuttings in the early spring. Now I have hundreds used as a border. Behind them Hosta Gold Standard and various common ones. Under a seedling Japanese maple tree. There is some mix-mash of wild ferns from our woods. Also a few jack'n the pulpit just for fun. Wait, in the first picture is a Japanese painted fern. You are right my friend.

That's interesting, Annie. I just assumed that pasties were British. I hear the word in a British accent. lol If I were to eat meat, it would be from a farmer like Annie, that raises them on pasture. I don't know if it makes any difference if the animal was cloned, or the offspring of a clone, other than I imagine the life of the cattle being cloned, or being used for the experimentation going on right now, is not a pleasant life. That's just a guess, though. This thread is really too fun to be talking about animal cruelty, so I better stop. (Thank you, Annie, by the way, for doing what you do.) Sally

Thanks, everyone, for so many more very helpful suggestions and insights! Kren, thank you for all your suggestions, you've convinced me that it makes most sense to try to preserve the kitchen's current simple look. The houses's architect did make furnishings; some of these were shown at a display that I unfortunately missed; in photos, though, the furniture appeared a bit extreme. A wooden chair, for example, had a zig-zag support structure in place of legs. The emphasis seemed to be on douglas fir and redwood, as materials. Anyway, we're not going to be purchasing furniture any time soon, but your ideas sounded great! Mlchoisser, we had considered refacing the cabs a while back. Many of the cabinet interiors were okay; but some of the drawers have taken a beating over the years. The thing is, though, we can't reface because we're also planning to push one wall back, so its cabs will be demolished. The other issue would be matching new materials with the current oak cabs. (which raises a new issue, just realized: there is oak paneling throughout the living room, very visible from the kitchen) Buehl, the dynasty doors are excellent, i agree! And the door style you selected is so great! It's just that there's something about schuler's very matte look that grabs me. There's probably no difference in the finishes, in reality, but I don't dare start looking at dynasty doors again! Laurie, your cabinets are beautiful! It's such a relief to hear of your very positive experience! Daki, this weekend I'll upload some photos. It's encouraging to hear you say rustic and mid century modern can be combined. Bluekite, thank you for posting that link! That's very helpful!