Spider mites ... the scourge of indoor gardeners. I've tried a number of different remedies from houseplant insecticides, which can sometimes be harsh, to horticultural oils, to simply hand-washing each leaf. If you have a small plant, rinsing the plant off regularly with water or hand-washing each leaf with slightly soapy water or a 50% rubbing alcohol-water mixture seems to be fairly effective. I'm sure others will offer advice.

This is a re-post of my comment from the thread on pine bark mulch. I don't know just how hot it has been in E.TX, but if the temps are anywhere between 90 and 100, your plants are too living too warm to convert nutrients to energy. This is how I lower the soil temp without having to move my plants into shade: I use pine bark almost exclusively for my figs. It's lighter and airier than many bagged mulches, so it's better at regulating soil temperature, as well. I prefer the "mini-nuggets". My figs seem to love it, both in-ground and in pots. Do check that the "pine bark" you buy is mostly PINE BARK. Some of it contains oak, pine or cypress shavings, as well. I would warn that pine bark is slightly acidic, so as it breaks down to compost you can either replace it, or add a bit of lime to the soil. One caveat: my figs tend to root into that nice airy mulch, especially in humid weather. If you leave your figs in-ground for the winter, provide extra mulch on the root zone to protect any surface roots. ***One other use I have for pine bark is for double potting. I have a couple of figs in a very hot full-sun, concreted area; and to prevent cooking the roots, I place the potted fig in a larger plain, unglazed CLAY pot (two sizes bigger, at least), fill the gap between the the two pots with pine bark, and water the bark well. The evaporation from the nuggets and clay pot cools the root zone by several degrees, without keeping the fig roots too wet. The figs will root into the pine bark if left alone, but I just turn the inner pot every few days and it solves that problem. Of course, this means using large, heavy, EXPENSIVE pots, but it's worth it for the way my figs are growing!*** ***I checked yesterday (6-28-09) when the air temp here was 93. The soil temp in my double-potted figs was 81 on the shady side, 83 on the sunny side, in full sun, at 4pm.***

I don't know the style of home or the neighbourhood but I think you may be leaning a little heavy on more neutral tones and a colour pallette without a lot of variation. With a black island and what sounds like dark granite could the room end up being a little muddy? I like the finish on the cabinets but for me the door style is a little fussy. It seems like more contrast in the space might be good but without seeing the room or some of the other elements it's hard to get a feel for whether black would be the best way to get that contrast. Good luck.

I don't think it would look weird to paint your kitchen trim white and have the rest of the main floor keep its oak trim... that was my instinct at the top of the thread and then the photo posted by marybeth1 confirmed it. When we moved into our previous 1926 house, the woodwork was all old varnished fir. Everyone was like, oh, I love that trim! But: it was not an architect-designed house (I think it was a Sears kit house, actually) and I didn't love calling attention to the doors and windows, which were not thoughtfully placed, with the dark trim. I painted it all BM White Dove, and suddenly the house was open, airy, and gorgeous... filled with light. It was an amazing transformation. Everyone who'd been trying to convince me not to paint it wound up saying they were wrong. Now, your house is already pretty airy looking, and your trim is lighter to start with.... but my point is that if you want white trim in the kitchen, do it!!!