Copper beeches have much lovlier coloring, IMHO. I was on a walk in my neighborhood yesterday and saw a Crimson maple and a copper beech side by side. No comparison in beauty, BUT, as you probably know, beeches grow slow. You plant a beech for your children, for the future. There's also a purple leaf plum that eventually gets large enought to be a shade tree, albeit not very much shade. My mom loves those smoke trees, they are fairly large and have good color. I dunno, maybe they've improved on the color genetics of the norway maple, but olive red drabness is what the ones around here do in most cases. Perhaps someone has had a better experience to report. I'm a big fan of natives, I'd plant a copper beech for the future and a japanes red maple for my lifetime. Ya can't beat the beech maple combo for shade and beauty, IMHO, but I'm a prejudiced north country girl. I've been to Lake Geneva, LOVELY area!

I just thought I'd revise this thread since we are in the depths of spider mite season here . . . again! I've grown dahlias for years and the mites are my worse problem. Oh yeah, the earwigs eat holes in the leaves and then wreck the petals but the mites have even killed my plants! This is a hot, dry part of the country and the Colorado State U website TrowelGal recommended comments on the problems with mites in those conditions. Also, they say that Isotox is effective. I've been using that pesticide weekly and still the mites always show up in a major way. (Suspect that Cheryl would NOT want to risk her toads to Isotox for good reason.) I once worked in a rose greenhouse and the head grower was convinced that washing the plants did nearly as much good as spraying them with a miticide. But, it was in combination that the system worked best. Blasting the mites off the plants with water, allowing the foliage to dry, then spraying was most effective. It works fairly well for me also probably because the mites on the ground nearly always get sprayed whereas the mites under the leaves may be shielded. Contrary to what may have been said about my aim - I can hit the floor with both my hat and the bug spray. My question, is there anything else I can be doing? Unlike Lola, my experience using neem was absolutely unsatisfactory. And Cheryl, did you give up on dahlias? Look, I've battled the mites on dahlias for well over a decade and still put out hundreds of tubers each year. I don't think a self-respecting toad would come anywhere close to this arid landscape so I don't have them to worry about but, gosh, seeing those bright, beautiful blooms every year is worth an effort. Steve

Hi, here's an "old" photo of Adobe in our small, guest BR -- before it was finished. (I haven't been on the forum for a long time but have been wanting to post a few completed projects, one of which is a headboard and pillows for this bed. Maybe over this holiday break.) Adobe is such a soothing color. When I first read your post I was concerned at the color choices then I read on realized you're the one with the Moutarde and Pumpkin and you know what you're doing. :) Your dining room is one of my all-time favorites. Interestingly and if I recall correctly, Demifloyd has sort of a reverse color situation as your two current choices. She has Adobe in master BR and soft blue drapes. Adobe for a transition from the outdoors into a home seems dark to me, but it sounds like it would work if you have a good amount of light and your other EK colors are in adjoining rooms. Was Camel or another color along those lines too light for your foyer choice? A few quick thoughts...Have you considered playing up the architectural feature of your BR ceiling by doing something different, and I could see accessorizing your BR with a range of nature's neutrals, starting with ivory and going darker, to harmonize with all the blue.

That sounds good. I was thinking that the next post should star off with a call out to the lurkers, maybe with some of the quotes from this thread of folks who had never done this before we took it on in one of these threads. I think the lurkers have this wacky idea that everybody who posts on this thread is some uber-creative design professional, which isn't true at all (although we have some of those). Quotes: LWO: I only wish that more of the people who need design help were trying to participate. It IS a learning exercise. Or, it was conceived of that way. It's great that so many talented amateurs and pros are giving examples of "how to", but there's nothing like getting your feet wet to go swimming. Testimonials: Sochi:I had never done a mood board before the 3rd thread (1920s kitchen). I've learned quite a bit about Olioboard and Flickr since the first kitchen I posted. That alone makes these exercises worthwhile. Not only am I learning a little about design (mostly from others) but I'm also learning how to more efficiently create moodboards, navigate the web, identify where to find what I'm looking for relatively quickly, use Flickr, etc. Plus it's fun and quite addictive. I encourage everyone to try it out. cawaps:I had never put together a mood board before the Colonial Revived thread (Design Around This #2). It takes a bit of time, but if you can do a Google image search and can master the basic tips on posting photos, you can do this...I find that I am more likely to respond to other threads with pictures, since it doesn't seem like such a chore anymore, now that I have lots of practice. I've also learned not to overinvest in a particular choice. At the idea stage you can easily adopt, evaluate, replace, look for something else.