I've admired others' Impatiens, but rarely have them because the foliage bores me. Where I am now, I'm jaded toward the Begonias because they are perennial here. But with the mildew issue, opinions are really a moot point since anything looks better than dead Impatiens. My son brought home a potted (links to pic of this plant) from school for Mother's day a few years ago and out of selfishness, I left it on a table on the covered front porch where I liked looking at it the most, but it never got any direct sun. It did not increase its' mass quickly, but did reach about 3x its' size and flowered constantly until coming inside for winter (not necessary, just more selfish whimsy.) Anyway, it's been blooming ever since I got it, and has been put in the ground by now. Unless we get a really cold night, this winter may not break its' streak. Particular eyes may see the Impatiens as more showy, but it can't compare to the toughness of the Begonia. A moot point in 5b, but exists in warmer locations. I keep breaking off the tall stems to start new plants. No doubt there are other plants that bloom in shade. I have fond memories of Veronica, Pulmonaria, Dianthus, bleeding hearts, Trilliums, Heucheras, Thalictrum, Brunnera, Violets, yada yada yada. Just no longer interested in hardly any of them unless I run out of Coleus and Persian shield. I really can't stand waiting for plants to bloom for a short time (a month or two) that I don't otherwise really enjoy looking at, and most of them are just too short. Some of these would be enjoyable to me now, so I would buy if I saw them, but we really don't want much/many ground cover type plants here, too attractive to snakes, too hard to mulch/weed. Thank goodness everyone doesn't feel the same way, I'm more than glad other people's gardens are very different. As far as a showy focal point pot in the shade, I don't think any Impatiens or wax Begonias could hold a candle to mixed Coleus, OTHER Begonias, with sweet potato vines and Tradescantias spilling over the sides... Just the view through my eyes... More pics of areas and plants on blog if you want to see a lot more pics of virtually flowerless shade areas.

Hi folks, thanks for the imput you all gave me. I thought after I posted I wished I hadn't as I had visions of being literally laughed off the forum for my desire to have a go at such unexpected plants, so thanks for not doing that!! I just find plants such a fascination and to have a go at things that I am technically not supposed to grow often gets the better of me. My husband just smiles and says, what ever next?! hehe! Mmmmh, surprising how different reports can give conflicting feedback, as I said one well known site said Sealing Waxes are very east to germinate. Was thinking of going down the 'seed line' of obtaining these plant as they are readily availabe online and have never ever seen either for sale as actual plants over here, far to way out and tropical!! Have read about the Flame Thrower also, they are also stunning, will investigate! Kew is on our ever growing list of places to visit, not managed it yet even though its in the UK!! They grow some amazing stuff down there and also the Eden Project in Cornwall.....thats on the list too. Ony seen the Travellers in Singapore, they were amazing and are a banana relative not a plam I understand. Have a 5ft Strelitzia R in the g/h getting bigger by the day, but no flowers yet. Rescued it from the 'dead and dying trolley' in DIY store several years ago...another weakness of mine! Cheers anyway guys, best of wishes. Look forward to those pics Stan. Gill.

Geranium & Mum use 0.1% IBA (Rooting Hormone) sell drined soil & mist should have good success, The other's may be propagated in the same way ... but will have best results from seed

I waited almost 5 years, only half intentionally, and my plans changed and solidified, and I saved up money. It was the best thing I could have done. Waiting a little might is not a bad thing at all. My 40s cabinets are like that too. I don't know how well they'd move, since there's nothing to keep them "square" while they're being taken down and moved around. But that's a question for a carpenter. You need to find one who is really invested in giving you what YOU want: informing you of the likely outcomes, good and bad, giving you his honest opinion, that you feel you can trust. I'm lucky that I have that with my contractor. Most of the time he knows I'd prefer to fix something old, even if it may not look perfect, or might be too fragile for some of the families on this site. But he will tell me if something is a bad idea, and when he does, I definitely listen. But some workers just want things easy, or don't have the knowledge to deal with an old house, or know they're going to slave for hours at their craft making something fit and then the homeowner is going to come home and say "But it's 1/8th of an inch off! That's totally unacceptable! Just put in a new one!" I think, for you, it starts with figuring out what you really WANT, and I get the feeling you're not quite there yet. As I see it: You can restore the salvageable 30s kitchen (little reconfiguration, cheapest option), recreate the 30s look with all/mostly modern components (some reconfiguration, middle cost, may exceed budget), start fresh with a new design with the very best of the 30s elements (some reconfiguration/more cost, likely to exceed $10K budget). Or another solution. In the end, the only opinion that matters is your own. Trust your gut.