Since I bought two of the hula girls and two of the edward laplantes I was able this morning to try the same. I had an edward laplante in the ground blooming (the two above) and I had a hula girl blooming in the pot, so I walked the hula over to the edward to try some polinating myself. That carolina breeze is a pretty flower too! I have only 3 stalks on my little orange as it is in the shade too much. I think I'll move it tomorrow to see if I can serve it better. If it ever gets healthy I'd be glad to share cuttings. Old Dog I really should be working off a calibrated monitor but alas the laptop is more convenient. I really surprised we don't see more photos on this forum. I'm sure everybody has a pic of at least one of their favorites they could share. Hint, hint...... Darren

I looked up ALL of these; thank you for your thoughtful suggestions. Well, this is a great time for experimenting, while the garden is new and there's plenty of fence wide open, so I've decided to try nearly ALL THE SUGGESTED VINES, INCLUDING RUNNER BEANS AND ANNUALS, that I can find now and in early spring. Should be interesting! I expect the vitis to be a good foil for some. The Clematis 'Arabella,' while pretty in the spring, will be removed as I find the seed pods messy looking right here, and it is one of the few clematis that doesn't twine up very well or very far. Certain foliage colors and textures will be noted -- less yellow-green, for example. I always loved the look of black-eyed susan; I saw some in yellow, and white-edged deep pink, as well as the well-known orange. 'Tangerine Beauty' Bignonia, which I assume you meant, Bahia, is a great color. Wanted to keep orange as a tiny accent, but I could change my mind. :) Hemnancy, I'm trying to keep the yellow greens to a minimum, as I have a whole side of bright yellows and greens, but variegated and silver colors are in. Thank you all for every comment. Also -- my husband designed and built the fence for me. Maro

Thanks for the compliments. It's nice to get compliments from others that paint and craft the same as I do. Someone that has no clue can be easily impressed at nothing (like just slapping a coat of paint on something), ya know! LOL The wording....I do that all by hand first off. I have used a pencil for years and then had to work to get it off. I just started to use chalk! Why I didn't try that years ago is beyond me! I can write out what I need and if it's not right, I can wipe it off and do it again. Then I sit and paint the lettering on and then go back and touch up a second time. I still end up having to go back and maybe repaint a section or who letter or word back to the basecoat and re-do it at least once every time. It takes a bit but it's more personal to do it myself then to use say a stencil and have the same saying in the same font EVERY time! This allows for me to space the words differently, split into lines, change the style of the lettering or whatever to make it fit the board that I'm working with and the place it's going. I guess I'm also just blessed with good handwriting! LOL Anj, It's a little of both. I found the saying somewhere and then picked my own style of how I wanted to write it out. So that I pretty much did on my own. The half circle saltbox sign, I got the saying from an old 'Tenderheart' catalog. It was used on a stitchery. Then I was looking through old 'Country House' catalog and saw a saltbox and willows and sort of recreated that. I don't really look at the photos much and copy them exactly. I get a general idea from somewhere and then do it in my own way. I add to it if I want and take away. I keep little doodles in a folder, too of say a cute way that I saw a sheep painted or a tree or some style of wording for later use. I use old catalogs, ebay, craft sites, etc for inspiration. I just got lucky and actually got that piece of wood cut that way from the scrap bin at the modular home manufacturer down the road. I have another left yet! The flag board sort of came from ebay. I was on there looking around a few months ago and found a seller that paints scenes on boards. I never thought to just use a simple board for a picture like that! I have a whole pile of old lumber out here that I realized would be perfect and got to work. Later the woman had an Flag on there but hers had a huge sheep, not a star and I don't think she had the garland, not too sure. I just got the general idea from her and started to create my own.

Wow! That's really something! Perhaps I'd better give mine this rough treatment once in a while, so it doesn't get to be like that one! I'm blown away at the size of it. It looks nice though, I can hardly see the foliage for all the blooms. I haven't taken a whiff, so I'm not sure if it's fragrant, rosecanadian. I'll remember to check soon. Romogen, send me a PM. If you are still interested, it looks like Louise Clements can come live at your house after all. Looks like she's too spreading for my Aunt. She wants an upright hybrid tea type rose. :) Lisa