For my taste it's not the right direction, but it's your house, so inherently you win :-) For me the sense of enclosure needs to be around the property, not around the house. The house's problem at the moment is that it is not sufficiently exposed due to the eyebrows, and that isn't mitigated by hiding it instead at ground level. Well, there's no question anything that removes those eyebrows will be an improvement, but in terms of landscaping, bulking up the foundation plantings is pretty knee-jerk to me and doesn't change up the game much. You could just take all those plants and make a bed where a fence or wall might go. Make it a living fence, so to speak. To me the house needs freedom from encroachment, not a different form of it. You've got .5 of an acre?? Use it! The pergola at the entrance is like adding a new eyebrow; it closes things in. Now, we all get bees in our bonnets and I remember that was your opening idea. When I get ideas like that I often need to try them before I can let them go, or sometimes, I have reasons for going with them even if they seem wrong to others. Your personal choices will not always be, nor do they need to be, the best design choice. Nandina above asked for a definition of charming. That is an interesting question. I often find charm in things that are not necessarily fabulous design when they express personality and caring within the context of the style of the home. Also, creative thinking. So if it's a "I want it to look like the rest of the neighbourhood," that to me never qualifies - with the rare exception where the norm is the perfect design solution for a house and is done very well. Since you have no foundation, a foundation planting is not the perfect design solution here. Your garden at the moment does not express any personality beyond that of the previous owners or whoever planted those badly placed photinias many years ago. As such, your home looks kind of submissive to the old owners' vision, not like an expression of yours. That, to me, is why it has no charm. If the pergola is something you really want to do, I would suggest a bit of a "go big or go home" approach. Why just do a little thing by the door where neither the door nor the pergola can benefit? Check out the thread linked below, and think about something like a pergola of v1rtu0s1ty's scale, done on the property away from the house. Recrafting the front sidewalk should be, I think, a cornerstone of your design, and with something like an alternating-rectangles approach you could put pergola sections that are offset from one another... or something. Not to design for you, but to get you out of what to me, as I watch you sketch out your ideas, feels like a rut that defines "landscape design" and "charming" in very limited and limiting ways. Not that there's anything wrong with that - it's what the majority of American homeowners do. But they don't come here for input. If you come to a landscape design forum for feedback, rut-busting is part of the program :-) KarinL Here is a link that might be useful: Virtuosity's pergola and yard

Yes Bob it's an excellent heat loving brug. It grows super fast during the summer months and blooms oct thru july in 5-6 week intervals but you almost always will have one or two blooms somewhere on the plant. Lucy I got mine from Shirley Moor the seedling parent as a trial brug about 3 years ago. She is a very large standard (about 8' tall) in a 20 gallon pot. This time of year the blossoms are lighter than pictured above. It's the warmer weather that brings out the deep rich colors. Mine is flushing right now and the blooms appear a bit tired from the sun. Here's a pic I just ran out an took. Excuse my tied up blossoms. Those flowers have been pollinated and I don't want the bees contaminating my crosses.

Thank y'all. I'm pretty sure I know what I'm going to say now. Two things really - one, that since I haven't even yet started I don't even know if there is a enough business to occupy two people. Two, that I value our friendship too much to taint it with a business deal. She is an incredibly nice person, would go to the end of the world for you if you asked, but very dependent on those around her. And because I have strategically distanced myself as I mentioned, she's not needy towards ME... She reserves that for people who tolerate her more than I do. Her ex-husband couldn't tolerate it though, which is one of the reasons why they are no longer married. To paint you a picture, her son is in preschool full-time yet she still employs a full-time nanny. While he is at school the nanny takes care of mom. Medical care? No... errands, cleaning, cooking, organizing, while she is out getting massages and her nails done and hair done and shopping and dr. appointments. My dh said that her happiness is not my responsibility and he's right and so are all of you. She is going to eventually have to earn an income (or remarry another rich guy) eventually. Alimony is only for four years. Anyway, I saw her Hummer down the street this morning at the our mutual friend's home that is her real estate agent (she's in escrow on both the place she sold and the place she bought). She knew I was home; my car was out front. She didn't stop by...I think she knew from my panicked reaction yesterday that the answer will be no. Probably mad at me. Oh well...it'll pass.

I have never asked for advise on any website before. But this experience was an eye opener. Yes , I didn’t have a picture. The reason being is I was asking about a technique. If there was a technique that changes color like maybe a glaze or color wash. I know what color I have, and what I thought It looked like. Only one person agreed with me about it being the wrong color for East West. Which I stated. And for all the rude comments like how they wish they had my husband , I hope you are not insinuating that I am anything but grateful as he is for what I do for him. The person who just said “and still no picture”. We took my mother to the hospital. And it isn’t looking good. I do very much appreciate some of the very helpful comments when trying without a picture. But life got in my way. For those of you who assume we aren’t answering or grateful without knowing someone is shameful. This is life , we help each other because we want to, not because we expect something in return. Going through life thinking the world revolves around you gets real old real fast. I am not a pro at anything , however I try to be kind and understanding. And if I do give advice it’s free. No strings attached. Thank you again , I know the ones who tried to help me during a trying time and situation. By the way my room looks very much like the tan buffalo check and I love the idea of adding that blue color accent. And the lady who said the paint store guy says he never mixes paint for a man without a note from his wife , priceless. And for everyone else who could not sense the humor in my very first post , wow. That was not a complaint. Really? The lady with the sense of humor about the store clerk got it. My husband is the most precious man but I knew this even when his first to me on Valentines was a pair of grapefruit spoons. ( I don’t eat grapefruit). Lol That’s why we’re okie but goodies and still married.