Thanks, Breezy! I have a feeling this will be a very long romance... Oldbat2be... installation (along with countertops) scheduled for next Friday! It really was such an easy addition to our stone order and was lovely enough without going over-the-top for our style of home. Would never had thought to do it if it weren't for GW -- would have probably ended up with a plain, wooden ledge. Christine... it's probably not that unusual, but for this total newbie, I knew I had to have one as soon as I saw rococogurl's. A stone window sill/ledge would look beautiful in a MB! And, btw, those aren't my hands! It belonged to the fabricator who not only is a 'he', but about twice my size! LOL! Good thing I didn't touch it b/c I'm not sure he would've been able to pry my hands off!

Sunlight coming in from an east or west direction comes in at an angle and isn't as intense as sunlight bearing down on us from directly overhead during the afternoon hours. Your ZZ plant will love it. Now that the Fall Equinox has passed, and the Sun is moving further south for the winter, the sunlight comes in at an angle all day long. It's more dispersed and less intense. So I've moved my ZZ plant further out into the open to soak up more sunlight throughout the day. It is getting direct sunlight all day long now, but I keep a close watch on it. I wouldn't even think of doing this during the summer. It would most definitely get sunburned. But as I said, the Sun is moving into the Southern Hemisphere for the winter, and the sunlight that reaches us is more spread out and weaker. Since your plant is still young, I wouldn't recommend trying this. I only mention it to point out the fact that just because plants tolerate low light levels, it doesn't mean that they prefer it that way. I keep all of my plants on the brighter end of the spectrum, giving them as much sunlight as they can tolerate, not less. That sunny eastern window will make a great home for your ZZ plant.

The cutting I used was about a quarter inch in diameter, and was hardened off already - not brand new. I did the same thing to the cutting I do to all of the cuttings I try to root, except of course it had to be the right length from the lowest leaves I was going to leave on (they supported the cutting by resting on the small opening at the top of the bottle) to the end of the cutting so that the bottom of the cutting would still be suspended in water, not touching the bottom of the bottle. I used a cutting which had a spent bloom at the top (which I removed), and then a five leaflet leaf, and one leaf below that, but as I recall I had to remove the lower leaf because it was under the water if the end of the cutting was at the right height. So, I removed it. I did remove the prickles, and make a very small vertical cut at the bottom of the cutting. I did not use any rooting hormone or anything else in the water. By the time we cut the top off the bottle and added the soil, there was a swelling bud eye where the lower leaf had been. I noticed that all three of the cuttings started to make new leaves, but the other two did not progress after that. I think Jeri was right about the water, which is why I just used plastic bottled water which we already had, and put the cuttings into them and never added any other water (until, of course, I put the soil in), when I did use some tap water to wash down the cutting. I still don't know how the cutting and its roots will react to our adding the soil, we will just have to wait and see. I will let you know. Jackie

If the OP had been really happy with what their designer had recommended they would not have posted the question here. Designers are always happy to try different things in other people's homes! They can add an extra photo to their portfolio and they don't have to live with the results! I think OP is looking for validation to stand up to the designer ... just the vibe I got from the question.