Thank you very much! I did some searching last night after posting this and came up with the same thing. I'm glad I got verification. The flowers are some of the strongest and sweetest smelling flowers I've ever came across especially from such a small plant.

Congradulations Dona, We are building new with an old house design, but it's not the same. It's always been a dream of mine to completely renovate an 1800's or older home incorporating new materials that you dont see,(such as electrical, plumbing,insulation,etc), and reproducing the woodwork and astethics to it's original form. In other words, bring it back to life. If you have a recycled building supply in or around your area, they often have period materials such as doors, mouldings, sinks,etc. that often times were used in the days of your home when it was new.I've also heard mention of some window mfg's that make period reproduction products that look original, but are way more energy efficient. Maybe someone out there can give you a link.Im an old hippie carpenter that has a great passion for vintage homes. We are building in an old logging town in the sierra nevada's , where working on some 1800's homes might turn into a reality. Best of luck and have great fun working on your "baby". Merry Xmas to all!

A simple truth is that your yard could go from mediocre to almost spectacular based on one single change and that is to improve the maintenance of the grass such that it is uniformly green and weed free. If it's a grass that goes blond when dormant, then it should be free of green weeds in the winter. You'll have to forgive my corner-cutting in drawing. I drew a single tree and cut and pasted it everywhere. I'm not suggesting that you should use that tree form everywhere. Just trying to save drawing time. The point I'm making for the overall yard is that the house looks overly exposed -- like a raisin in the sun. It needs the framing and sheltered look that some trees would give. Probably in the foreground of the lawn, single trunk trees, with canopies ultimately raised quite high, would look good ... with smaller multi-trunk trees being closer to the house. Currently your house is smothered all around with shrub balls at its base. Instead of all the smothering, only four shrubs that correspond to four porch columns would be enough. I'm flanking the steps with "color," which could be annual or perennial depending on the details of your needs. Between the shrubs and "color" is a low groundcover that fills in the gaps. At each end of the house the bed is filled with perennials of a height that works with the house and the grade. The ends do not need to match each other. (Daylilies and Siberian iris come to mind if either of those would suit your liking.) In the second picture I'm suggesting that the walk experience would seem much friendlier if there wasn't shrubbery pinching edges of the walk. It would be better set back away from the walk. For the size of house and yard, the walk looks very skinny, which makes it less inviting. You could easily change this my mortaring an 8" brick band along each side, flush with the walk surface. This would add 16" width and an upgraded, decorative edge to the walk. (I'm not illustrating this.)

I've watched those videos of abandoned homes on YouTube. I am always amazed at what is left behind and no one has come in and stolen some of the stuff or destroyed it. My mother had a friend who collected bottles....mostly beautiful perfume bottles. She had glass shelves in front of mirrors and had them displayed like that. It was a few years after she died that my sister and I went in her house. I was about 11....my sister was an adult. The house was open. Everything in the house had been left....even food in her fridge. I remember the Dr Peppers. The door was open and power was off. Everything was destroyed. Every bottle broken. Every mirror. I am sure everything had been destroyed but mostly I remember the broken glass and all of her plants in the sunporch were dead. I recall that they said she only had one son and he just left everything in the house and walked away.