You may be reading the wrong magazines. :-) I like the occasional Better Homes & Gardens article for its "garden porn" quality, but Sunset and Fine Gardening are both 100 times better at giving you a good idea of how all the pieces of the property fit together and form a whole. They often have full, if not very detailed, plans for the properties they feature, rather than just having a bed with all the plants in that bed. They also discuss the reasons behind many of the design choices--such as site orientation, lifestyle, screening needs, etc. I've enjoyed any number of landscaping textbooks, as well. These tend, these days, to be heavy on the modernist aesthetic, but there are still very solid design principles presented. My faves are those that focus on contrasts--this doesn't work and why, versus this that does and why. Most of these are focussed on commercial/public spaces, but the same principles apply. You should also pay attention to what you like, PERSONALLY, about a space. I happen to LOVE height in my freestanding beds. I want beds that go from 1' or less to at LEAST 5'--or if it's a hell strip or something similar where "low" is generally preferred, I like it to 3'. I love shady places. Most rose gardens bore me to tears. I like stolen views and garden rooms. I dislike looking across five sun-bleached beds at a glance. I like hidden corners. I love variations in color in foliage--a great emerald green "wash" with gold and purple against it, or purple and blue. (Not so fond of gold and blue....) I like plants with strong shapes and attractive foliage--or that are easily hidden by those with the attributes when they stop blooming! I love grasses and shrubs, bulbs and large-leafed plants, and compact conifers. In colors, I like many combinations, but I'm not fond of yellow, going more toward variations on a main combination from the red/pink/coral/orange palette with accents of purple (foliage, mostly, but some blooms)--in fall ornamental cabbage under Japanese maples against a brilliant green backdrop are stunning to me. So I know what works for me, personally, and what doesn't. This lets me make good aesthetic choices once I've figured out the bare bones of my project--other than just saying I like plant A and plant B, so I'll have them both, just 'cuz. The fact that I personally like plants *together* more than plants apart makes it a lot easier for me. I'm not swayed by the collector/true *gardener* compulsion to have lots of different plants that I like individually. I care more about how they'll look as a group. I like trees first, shrubs next, then perennials, and finally annuals (especially coleus and elephant ears, though flowers, too!) for adding bulk and color where it's needed temporarily. Other people have very, very different tastes than I do. Plenty think that orange/purple contrasts are ugly and prefer complimentary colors. That's fine by me. Others adore low, sun-washed beds, and many thing a rose garden is next to heaven. Or they love drifts of annuals. That's great, but it's unimportant for me figuring out what *I* like!

I was wondering about the green underline in my last post! I kept re-writing and deleting until it went away. It finally worked! (yes, I admit I will do stupid things several times before admitting there is probably a better way) We had rain Friday (a downpour) and I thought when I came back there would be amazing changes, but no, still dry-ish in the garden and things are tired looking. Carol, I may dig up a tiny canna and pot it up with some other tropical cuttings and such that need homes. It will be a hodge-podge I'm sure, but should brighten up a spot. I was pleased to have some of the russian red cannas blooming when I came back. There's not much to the flower, but I saw two hummingbirds fighting over it! The plants are cool even without the hummers, they have purplish foliage and tower above me at seven feet. Next spring I'll be re-doing the front yard. I may do a tropical theme with these cannas all over plus some big grasses and some elephant ears. I may need some pink flamingos too. My mind is wandering. Maybe I'll go fertilize and water, I too have spent way too much time indoors this weekend.

Okay, change of plans - had my breakfast, did my dishes earlier and since I'm trying to figure out the best place for Andy's permanent litter box location I decided the utility room. Since it's a new build home, that room still has builder's debris (they still have a few things to finish) - so I'm cleaning the floor and trimming back the plastic wrap over the insulation so it's not a foot across the floor. Collecting copper wire (crafts - the electrician gave me two boxes of cut offs when he wired this place). Putting all of that room's garbage in the separate pile by the shop which is building debris which the builder will haul. I'm not filling my $2/tag garbage bags with this stuff. So I'm not bored anymore. And I'll continue vacuuming all this place once I start that. I scared DH away to his workshop. Now I know he's not bored anymore. And Andy has found a lovely sunny spot to snooze in. Ah to be a cat. LOL

Sue, the Etap hotel is a few steps below a motel 6...quite a few steps in fact. LOL! The rooms were tiny, which were expected but the floor was really grungy and the toilet/shower area were a one piece porta potty plastic unit that had been put into a corner of the room. It was very small and the floor area by the toilet got soaked when you showered. The shower stall area was barely big enough to turn around in. Now I wish I had taken a picture! Patti, I think the house I used to live in was torn down and a new one put in it's place, there were a lot of new homes there. The town was very small, just one street with one tiny restaurant and a coffin maker. That was it...not even a post office. Stacy, yeah, I think I should've learned after our trip out west. Some of it was fun but for the most part they weren't interested in a lot of it. I've downloaded my pictures and will start posting them. Wish I had taken more videos, they are pretty funny because they are so BAD! LOL!