Welcome to the world of ponding! About the lilies, I've kept lilies in 18 - 19 inches of water and they do just fine. In fact, my hardies thrived at that depth. I've also seen tropicals kept at that depth, and they did fine too. They must be pretty adaptable. That's way too shallow and too small for koi, but I think you can keep a few goldfish or mosquito fish if you help shade the water for them in the deeper end to keep it cooler. The lily pads will do a good job of that. A pot with something tall that has broad leaves like taro or lotus placed on the south or west end of the pond would also be a good idea. I was going to say that water hyacinth will do well there, but I'm thinking that they may be illegal in Arizona. They do an excellent job of shading the water if they're legal there. Parrots feather is another option. Pretty much any sun-loving marginal should do well in your pond. Do you have a filter or aeration? Oxygen levels are lower in extremely warm water, so don't overstock your fish. You might also need to add an airstone when temps start getting close to 100.

When I transplant cuttings into their own pots, I give them 1/2 strength fish emulsion every other week. Where are you keeping them? Yellow leaves can be caused by lots of things, not just nutrient deficiency. These little babies are pushing leaves at a time when their relatives outdoors are still sleeping. There are fewer daylight hours and a much lower angle sun than in late spring when temps start to warm and things outside begin to grow. This may not have anything to do with it, it's just the first thing that popped into my head. Don't even get me started on the possibility of spider mites ... we won't go there. :) Nine new babies on your first try with cuttings is great! Congratulations. Connie

lynn: Your cherry office sounds wonderful. Are they built-in or freestanding? I can't wait to share pics!! I'm also wondering what to do for chairs since we have hardwood floors. It would work best to have chairs with castors so we can roll out of the way when we need to open the drawers, but am worried now I'll scratch the floors. rmkitchen: Ah, gentleman's closet, yes something like that. Who knows it'll have all our files, charging station, etc. DH wants it to go to the ceiling so my new idea is to do that and split the difference between ceiling and top of window molding (which is about 12") for the other cabinets. Would you mind posting a pic of your taller cabinets? I'm also wondering how it will work/feel with the huge upper doors (about 56"H)? Sort of like pantry doors sitting on top of a desk. I could td two stacked cabinets instead, but that will cost more, plus make the space less flexible to store larger items in adjustable shelves. Perhaps she could break up the look visually by making it look like one door is stacked on another. Does that make sense? I should probably go back through the FKB to see what the taller doors look like. Also with the taller cabinets, now the shorter base seems out of scale. Where it'd be really nice is for the two cabinets between the desks, but would be odd I think to do 2 different heights. I can't quite comprehend how these drawers eat up so much space with the glides, framing, etc. I'd at least like a drawer to store envelopes there. I can't quite get it as I have it in my freestanding desk--top pencil drawer, middle for envelopes, bottom of files--but it's a shorter base. I may have to loose the notion of a trash cabinet and just put under one of the desks--which I suppose there is room towards the back area. Anyway she'll come tomorrow and I think for the base, I'll see what she recommends will work best for the area where the cabinet butts up to the step and carry that look everwhere.

ARG - Thank you so much! I really appreciate the information and making me feel better about my architects work too even though I don't feel we are there yet. I am trying to see if he'll do this with us and I will happily pay him for his time if he feels this is outside our contract. It is just trying to convince him without offending him that I need to work on before bringing it up as I'm a very direct person. AS - there is some I like and some I don't like at all. I'd love to see the exterior too as I really dislike the entry as well. He didn't send the elevation, but he is a bit computer challenged so getting this by email was a surprise. I did get a site plan in the mail, but not the elevation. I think there are some bump outs that will make it look odd too. What I like: - Open, kitchen, dining, living area and kitchen close to porch for grilling - Access to lookout from main areas of the house - some storage closets - mudroom walk through - general arrangement of family bedrooms in same area and so it can be on the same ac system for cooler temps at night and warmer during the day - closet separation from the bathroom for the kids rooms and some privacy from the kid's living - regular stairs - pantry not so over-sized as in other plans - storm room size - bedroom privacy - 4' hallways everywhere - size of some of rooms are good and would fit what we need - pool bath have exterior access - m. closet (dressing) has no windows What I don't like: - siting - the clear view is north and the m. bed, m. bath, and bed#2 have the clearest view. The rest is through trees and their canopy and they are mostly live oaks which keep their leaves during the winter so it is a peak of a view vs. a clear one. Seems like the main rooms should take more advantage of the clear view, but maybe that has something to do with west being that way too. Although the western sun is blocked by trees that sit higher about 1/2 mile away (not on our property) so it never hits the house as it is today. It is also moved over about 30 ft from where it was before, not sure why that is which also diminishes the view. Also the new electrical is shown all wrong and would run through the shop as it is placed and the equipment apron is supposed to be on the east side of the shop so we don't have to look at the tractor and trailer. - would prefer sort of a main shape of a house and the others looking like additions to that main shape, but I can let that one go if need be. - the pool is not what we expected as we needed a pool that also has a swim lane - not just a swim lane and where it is placed I'm afraid it would have a lot of drainage running into it and requiring retaining walls to avoid it along with stairs to it. We prefer no stairs for access. - light is blocked from the southeast to kitchen, dining, and living with the hallway wall, stairs, and pantry. - The entry and how it interacts with the porch. Only a few ft in front of the front door and the porch divided into two areas where one is small to not be useful for anything but provide some sun protection. - Kid's bedrooms very far away to go and wake-up in the morning and having to walk back and forth to kitchen and getting to those bedrooms in the morning feels like a maze to me. My mornings are wake-up, laundry, work out, shower, laundry of WO clothes and then meal prep for breakfast and dinner, wake kiddo up, kid eats, then goes and gets dressed while I clean-up/finish up and then I have to keep her on track while doing this or 10 minutes to get dressed can turn into 30 min. Then kid comes back and grabs her lunch and puts stuff into her backpack in the mudroom and always have to go back to her room for something and then we finally leave. The house just doesn't seem like it will make my mornings easier, but rather harder. I'll get a workout for sure and so will the kid. - the kid's living is too far removed from the main part of the house, oversight is just not simple without walking through the maze which could be good for sound, but also not for a quick check-in and a lot of yelling from kitchen or walking to get there for example to tell them dinner is ready. Might also get too noisy for the den nearby with xbox Kinect play which can get very loud at our house. - bed#2 and #3 shape is a bit odd and two different sizes. Haven't measured to double check that 2 is 1 foot x closet smaller, but from looks it appears to be. - some rooms are over-sized such as m. closet, m. bed, pool bath, laundry, mudroom (although we need a lot of closet space here so it would be utilized) - view from 4th bedroom walking out is into the mudroom (door will never be closed to the mudroom) - storm room has an exterior wall (may or may not be important) - longer walk to the laundry than before and more turns and it holds our cleaning supplies as well except the bathrooms has their own. - some other more detailed things, but I don't think we are at the point of details yet.