Thanks everyone! I'm with you about the Autumn Moon colors, I think those colors would look very nice in that space. Unfortunately, I've since found out that the shirasuwanums aren't the best choice for my climate zone. I found www.essenceofthetree.com (used to be Mountain Maples) and they said palmatums are the best for hot dry climates. Here's an interesting article on their website: http://www.essenceofthetree.com/articles/choosing-the-best-maple-for-your-location/ Based on the list in that article I'm looking for a palmatum similar in color to Autumn Moon (like the Katsura but smaller). Ueno Homare is a possibility, and Calico is a dwarf much like Katsura (but not on the list). Shidava Gold is also on my short list although I don't think it'll be as interesting as the others. I did speak with the nursery and Shidava was a plant they recommended, but I want to talk to them again about the other possibilities. I'll let you know what happens...

Mantis - The hybridizer is James Hall - Mljomo on the Lily Auction. I got Scarlet Angel from him and he sent me his Red Head. I actually like it better than Scarlet Angel. James has a lot of intros now and usually sends those as bonuses. I think they all start with the word Buddy's. I've gotten several of his auctions over the years. In fact I just bought a seedling of his that is out of his patterned Buddy's Spook. He's in Cantonment, FL. Debra

Lol Chris! You and my dad would've hit it off! Taping foil to be bottom of the cabinet is totally something he would do. My dad could fix anything, given enough duct tape and chicken wire, haha! Actually, fire is not the reason vents shouldn't be closed off. I'm going to find the article (or try to!) and post a link. Caroline, I think you're OK to put the cabinet over it from a fire safety perspective. But if it were me, I'd check with the FD and take their recommendation. I don't live as dangerously as Chris, haha! Chris, did the gun cabinet have ammo in it when it was on the vent with the heat? The reason not to completely cover the vent if you're running A/C has to do with how the HVAC "decides" when it's warm enough to turn on. So let's say you set your A/C to 75. When it senses that the house is 75, it comes on. When it senses the house is sufficiently cooled, it turns off. Or you may have it on a timer, say, it comes on at noon and turns off at 7:00 pm. Or it's on a simple on/off that you manually control. The cold air obviously can't get through the vents that are closed off. That cool air then builds up in the ducts. Then one of three things happen. First, your unit may start cycling on and off constantly. With the ducts being very cold but your front door area being warm, the unit can't figure out whether to stay on or off. A unit that cycles every two minutes is not only annoying, it is wearing itself out and will break down. Second, you may decide to fix that by cranking the air up or putting it on the on-off setting. That makes it worse. Finally, your unit may literally freeze up. All the cool air in the ducts and the build up of condensation on the unit from working too hard will freeze it and boom! No more A/C. The article also said people should not get a bigger A/C than the one appropriate for the size of the home for these same reasons. At least that was my understanding. I'm not a technical person, so I may not be explaining it quite right, but that was my take-away. However, they were talking about completely closing it off. They said people think they're saving money by only having the vents open in the rooms used most often, but they're actually ruining their A/C unit in the process. I would think your situation would be fine, since the air can still blow up through that vent. :-) Chris, do you have a mini split? Do you like it? That's what I want to get.

Black to pull together with shutters. I advise no glass below chest height but that is my personal security issue.