Hi Dave, Sorry to be late to the party!! I have been working to much!! " ) The Miami Rose is a happy tree! It was happy with you as well.. MO..? When i brought that big baby home, it did go through a period of mild shock!! Don't laugh.. it was a long trip home ( 3 hrs) with this giant tree in my back seat coming forward to the front seat!! LOL.. Dave even helped me wrap it up.. She was happy after i left her alone to adjust.. Then i root pruned her and potted her up to a five gallon container. SHe really liked the trim and i think it has rewarded me this year. I did keep the soil consisent as to what you were using. Next year, i will repot, bare root into the gritty mix. I do repot the little ones more than the bigger ones.. The big boys will be next year. Thank you again for this beauty!! I LOVE IT!!! I still think of that citrus... LOL.. Ill email you about the other things mentiones a few days ago. I had to laugh at spell check... woa!!! LOLOl... Take care Dave, Laura

jejvtr: I like the first link you showed, but the second one did not work. You are right the columns look similar. Perhaps you should leave them afterall, they are growing on me. It has a certain delicacy with the arched roof and you may change you mind also once the trim is painted different than the house color. Which is probably another reason my vote is for a non-white base color--to accentuate your lovely trimwork. I'm glad you are looking at other homes similar to yours for inspiration. When we were remodeling last year, I always kept a digital camera in my car and I would snap pics of features/colors/etc of houses I liked--usually while picking up or dropping off my kids from school or sports practices. I would try to drive a bit in the residential areas. Then when we were finalizing paint, I had my paint swatches with me and I would go up to houses which I liked and compare paint swatches. Once you and your DH find an inspiration pic I think this is helpful to narrow down to an actual color. You will always see things we don't, like lighting and how it works from various angles. What does DH think? Still white/red?

love2weed - Your gardens in the back are gorgeous! i'm glad you didn't trim the crepe myrtle. While I agree it has outgrown the space, this is the wrong time of year to trim it. I don't know where you live, but late winter, very early spring is the time here. Goggle trimming crepe myrtle so you trim it correctly, and reduce its size and height and maintain its shape and flowers. Don't top it (whack off the top). Pretty house. The shrubs look way better trimmed. Keep them watered if you are in a hot area to help reduce the shock from the severe pruning. You may consider moving the crepe myrtle ( not now). I've had good luck relocating them.

Hey guys the rain finally broke, and it is not hot as hell so we FINALLY got a chance to start painting and I had to take in process photos with my camera phone to shar with you guys. I tried to take the same angles as the before photos. Now the house is not finished. We still have not painted the doors or the trim and have not put up the window boxes yet. The trim is going to be cream and I forgot what colow we picked for the door. So here it is. It remarkably looks a lot like one of squirrelhavens rendition. I loooove elephant ears and I hope I do not wind up regretting planting them by the fron door even though we NEVER use it. I also used a paver mold to redo the walkway in the front. the brick that were then has made the planter on the side of the house. It loooks sooooo good even though it is not finished photos taken with a blackberry pearl cell phone!! Not bad for a camera phone!!