How pretty, and so full and lush! I have a small white noid which is in bud right now, and it holds its flowers in the same position. It's the only one I have that does. Love the photos!

The thing that struck me about your post is that you have what "seems like" 2 dozen duffel bags. How many duffel bags do you actually have? I'm a very literal person, so I'm visualizing 24 duffels in 1 house. That's a lot of bags, whether they are floating around/distributed throughout the house, or all stacked and stored neatly in a well thought-out location. You say they are floating around the house. To me, that means they don't have designated homes. I do understand from your post you are trying to get ideas to make an organized home for things. I would do an actual count of bags so I knew exactly the status and project I'm dealing with. The way my brain works, I don't classify the duffels as the problem (other than the fact that 24 duffels are too many)...it sounds to me like you don't have homes for the contents of the duffels...and you are using all these bags as a means of storage for other things...and you don't have storage places for the things inside. My point, in trying to get to the core of your question, I'm trying to determine if you want to: 1. store the empty duffels when not in-use? 2. organize/store the contents of the duffels? 3. want to store the full duffels and contents in a sense that you would use duffel bags as the storage containers instead of traditional boxes, rubbermaids, or whatever. Different solution ideas for what you intend to do. Could you clarify? I really want to help...I'm either not getting your question, or wondering if you are so focused on the duffels themselves, that you're not thinking about the contents, and the other options you have. As for the suitcases...I have a musty basement too. You could get a large airtight bag (large garbage bag or 2), twist & secure the opening, and store it in your basement. As long as the contents of the bag are kept airtight, you shouldn't have a problem. You stated you do use the suitcases for business travel...so it's not like the suitcases will be shoved in some musty corner and never touched for years on end left to degrade and deteriorate. I'd love to further discuss the duffels. Could you provide more info or thoughts? Gayle

I can relate. We ended up turning over a basement family room to my oldest for a bedroom and hanging out spot for all of the guys. Frankly, I just kept a path cleared to the laundry room and kept the door closed. He's lucky I didn't kill him when he moved out. In regards to the dishes, I just let him know that if I picked up dishes, I'd throw away anything I wanted, so the boys all made a point of getting that stuff back upstairs. He moved back home for a couple of years and is clearing out again this week. I let him know this time that if he left any mess for the rest of us to clean, I'd be taking the money for my services out of his account (which I'm on.) Really, it was a good trade-off. The room was a mess, but since it was the lowest level I didn't have to look at it except for a few minutes a day. Ours was a walkout basement, so the boys didn't even have to bother us to come and go. Knowing where a dozen 19 year old boys were at midnight on a Friday night was worth the aggrivation. I'd focus on getting your work space more comfortable. Gloria

I see your point Hair, ( the "grind my gears" comment makes me think of Family guy, BTW) the trees are likely an afterthought for these people. They obviously weren't important enough to warrant a indepth websearch even. Or to get advise from a nursery, tree expert. Unless the experts aren't really experts. Anyhoo, It's best to try and "let it go", maybe sow some of those seeds in an area where you can see the resultant seedlings, best if you can grow one or 2 in your own yard. poaky1