roseseek - exactly. Most of the kordes roses look so healthy, they reminded me of those knock-out roses. I like my Austins to bloom well, but at the same time, I don't like the rose bush to be covered in too many blooms that I can't see the foliage. How weird. blocke19 - I live in Victoria. Thanks for the suggestion. However, I'm a really shy person who prefers my own companion, if you know what I mean. Thanks anyway. Jerijen - I think your location is quite similar to mine. Your SDLM suffered from mildew, and so did mine. I remember you saying that Austins are thirsty shrubs and need plenty of water. I had to water mine regularly. I'm not too fond about growing teas, chinas and noisettes. I just don't like the foliage. The only tea rose that I would like to grow one day is Mme Berard. You're spot on about Teas being the right choice for my location. Every time I drive pass a few suburbs, I would see a tea rose flowering non-stop.

Thanks Jim! Carla, I haven't had that great of luck with the "patio" roses. I have a few Poulsen ones and they don't do that great. But then, I don't do that great with minis, even tho I do have a lot of them! Oh Henrik! I am also getting into the lilies. They do very well here, and I love them. Asiatics, Orientals, and all the hybrids in between! The early ones are already emerging with a vengeance. Some of the Asiatics are already almost a foot high! I can't believe it! I want to order more, but I have to curb my spending!!! I'm still paying off the roses from this season! Yeah Bustopher, there are worse addicions. Thank heavens I can't afford them! LOL I wouldn't have it any other way. Florence, MARTINE GUILLOT has not been a very good rose for me. That picture I have on HMF shows the only bloom I've gotten in about 8yrs. I got the rose from (of all places) KMart as a two-gallon potted rose. They got in a bunch of the Generosas under the Martha Stewart label one yr. It bloomed when I bought it, but once I put it in the ground, it did horribly. I think the area I planted it in was severely lacking nutrients. That whole bed is full of rocks and crappy soil. Over the yrs I've added amendents and such, and I think it's finally doing some good. Last yr, almost all the roses in that bed finally bloomed better than ever before. I also have CLAUDIA CARDINALE (which I also got at KMart) in that bed and she bloomed for the first time too, but had more than one bloom. I hope to see both of them do much better this season!

My3dogs, a huge thank you for posting the link to Francis' website. Also, yayagal and patricia43, your enthusiastic responses have helped me to feel that I'm really "normal" in falling madly in love with these little works of art that are gorgeous replicas of South Pacific sailing history. The sailing vessel in my painting looks almost exactly like the Lapita Voyage Project canoe on Mr. Pimmel's website (scroll down lower on his page) with the following exception. I believe mine only has one sail. It was down, wrapped and laying on the deck at the time the artist captured the image of the canoe in the harbor so there is no sail in the painting. Pat43, yes I am including other historical artifacts in my decor. Thank you for asking. This summer while on Cape Cod, a handwoven Nantucket basket, a genuine scrimshaw, and a carved whale were purchased for display on the shelf system in the familyroom. The decor is British colonial but with a Hawaiian slant. My DH and I vacationed on Maui about five times, and I wanted to bring the relaxed feel of Hawaii to this remodel. I'll be happy to post photos when completed. The big problem is that I'm stripping the paint and varnish from the six unit shelf system that's in the familyroom. This has turned into a never ending project. If anyone has any magical suggestions, I'm all ears. To wrap this up, a big thank you for help with my decision; I'll go with the Pimmel canoe. Mine will only be 12" long. That's the size I wanted, and it's at the top of my price range at that. Also, your patience with my dithering about is much appreciated. Mahalo (Thank you!)

I agree with all of you: they're definitely Hollywood Regency. And I should recharacterize my own style, which is probably better said to be "*in* transition" rather than transitional. (: I do like clean-lined pieces, and our DR set is very Mission; the adjacent LR combines Mission and Art Deco; and our bedroom, where these chairs would go, is your basic Recovering Graduate Student/Random Wedding Present room. So funky/eclectic would fit in just fine there. And there's just something about these chairs... The room is a long rectangle. The half without windows is for the bed (not a bed per se, but rather mattresses on a metal frame) and the dressers, which are mismatched yard sale finds. On the other side of the room, I'd like to create a sitting/reading area next to the windows, with a gorgeous view of the mountains (by far the nicest thing about the room!). We got a red and tan handloomed Peruvian folk-art rug for our wedding, and that's what we'll use to set off the seating area. Also on that side of the room, framing one window, are some slender dark walnut modern-styled bookcases. And then the part I'd like to replace: a heinously ugly loveseat that a friend gave us, also on that side of the room. I'd much rather find some reading chairs and an ottoman than a loveseat anyway; the room's not that big, and the loveseat makes it a pain to open and close the curtains and shades. I agree these chairs don't look too comfortable, so they're probably not my ideal reading chairs. But they'd be good for draping the bathrobe or pulling into the LR for extra seating. I love the idea of velvet, and maybe even the box-pleated skirt -- hadn't thought of that, cool idea, thank you! I agree that they're great in a pattern, but I don't want lots of patterns clashing in my bedroom, I don't think. What would you think of a tan velvet on the back and the bottom of the seat, and then the top, round seat cushion in something like this: Here is a link that might be useful: I'd use this pillow cover to reupholster the seat...