Melissa, I am happy as long as the plants are thriving as well. Flowers will come and go. Spring was great....until that awful hot wind came and cut my flush short. But that was amazing having it all inside for a week! I never would have done that if I didn't know the wind was coming so thanks Jeri for the warning this spring. Hoovb escaped it, she was just south enough to be spared. After that, I had some nice blooms and then the heat came and cooked everything. I had a few pots get sunburnt and some leaves were so pale they were almost white when they formed. After the heatwave went by the leaves were beautiful and deep green again. Fall came in a trumpet of glory. The best fall flush ever. The Bourbons were loaded and DA roses were in their glory. It seemed to go on and on. I had roses like Jack's Beanstalk with giant blooms on top. Now there is a period of nice warm weather with cool nights. Almost every HT and Fl has something and the fragrance is very good. I haven't seen any rain since a teeny weeny sprinkle a few weeks ago so the plants are all clean with no disease except some mildew on SdlM buds from overcast/ coastal foggy mornings. This year's Halloween show Chrysanthemum crop was so good. I had the big pom-pom showy ones. They hid in part shade during the heatwave and watering them twice a day was worth it when the buds finally arrived. Thanks also to my folks who watered bands and other pots in the June-July heat for me while I was in Gettysburg for the 150th. Just now I am getting mulch and sifting the great soil I got from the neighbor who had some concrete poured. Why do people want to send their best topsoil to the dump? I have enough to make a raised planting and fill in the low spot on my corner where I want to put Perle d'Or (Perle the Great). The bands from Vintage in 1 gal pots now are growing very fast and all need a larger pot or to go in the ground. Actually, everything is still growing fast and I'm trying to keep up. Bulbs are up too early and I have some blloms on the plum tree. But the apple that I nearly lost has grown well and all it's spring grafts survived and are big fat branches full of leaves. The worst was the brutal heatwave of late summer. It killed many of my delicate plants that have been on the edge of growing here. My Japanese maples had all the leaves fry so that there is nothing left to turn colors but I think the trees themselves are fine and will grow nicely next year. The heat didn't bother my Camellias and fall temps have given me a great bunch of buds. Already, the Sasanquas look good and a few early Japonicas have begun to open. Ingrid, I think you would like Camellias because they can hide in the shade and give you pretty flowers through the winter. While they are small, you can move them around and enjoy them wherever you like and move them into the garage or in deep shade during a heat wave. If we get some rain in these upcoming months to wash the soil of irrigation deposits, I will call this year a good year for my roses.

Hello everyone! We're in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and today it has been minus 3 degrees. Our little Anna's Hummingbird visited the frozen flowers today and I do think they survive on insects at this time of year...well until the Spring they must. Anna's Hummingbird is relatively new to Vancouver according to my bird book and they are a joy to see. Our summer variety, the Rufus Hummingbird is long gone to warmer climes.

I ordered them off of e-bay. Pretty much at the size you see. They've pushed up a few fronds. Just go on e-bay and do a search by the scientific name. I won't even attempt to spell (Rhap something hystrix). If you do google search you'll find the correct spelling. I know more than anyone how tempting it is to by a palm any time of the year but may I suggest waiting until spring. The soil temperatures are falling fast up here and I think it unlikely you would give them a real chance to root up here this time of year.

I missed this, too! This is a beautiful kitchen! Warm and elegant, yet so functional! My layout is similar, except our stove will be on the other side of the sink/"L". The niche behind your stove is perfect... makes me want to do the same! I'm also doing an appliance garage (on the other end of the counter)... love the look of yours. I like how you went dark on the hardware, instead of chrome/nickel/stainless. And that pantry!! Everything looks perfect and I'm sure you will enjoy many, many years of happy cooking and entertaining in this space! Congratulations!!