Plum Pudding is more vigorous than others for me, but still declines after a few years. Green Spice looks great with it and is the most vigorous one I have grown. They need high nitrogen fert (I use coffee grounds) and sunshine early in the spring to do well for me. Perhaps some other varieties that I killed before I knew this would do better now that I know what they like. I have been able to keep a supply of replacements by doing this: early in the growing season, I snap the top off of any large heurchera that has a woody stalk a few inches long. I stick the snapped off part into a small pot with some good potting soil and let them root in my cold frame. The are pretty small at first, but by the next year, they are one-gallon size and ready to plant out. The mother plant survives and sprouts new offshoots and often looks fuller as a result. It sounds drastic, but it works.

After buyong daylilies this spring, I swore I wouldn't get any more LOL. I just ordered 10 more from a local nursery that is having a 50% off sale. Most of these were now $4-8, I just couldn't pass that up. I ordered: Always Afternoon Belle Isle Bandit Best Kept Secret Chance Encounter Eggplant Escapade Mephistopheles Oliver Dragon Tooth Peach Magnolia Smokey Mountain Autumn Hush Little Baby. I've seen your pictures of most of these but does anyone have Oliver Dragon Tooth or Belle Isle Bandit? Would like to hear how it performs for you. Thanks. Marg

Trim the broken parts from you pear tree leaving clean cuts. It may survive but it won't be like its former self for at least 10 years. Also, it may begin to rot from the severe wounds. If this was a grafted tree, it appears that all the damage is elevated well above the graft.

I don't care for any of the paint samples on the walls. They only highlight the pink tones in the paneling by being so gold or brown/gold. I also wouldn't do burgundy, as you have so much of it already in the room. I would first consider finding a color that is the same as the background color in the paneling - a soft creamy ivory tone, and just use that. The entry area feels kind of dark and closed, so a light color there would work. I would then take the same paint and paint all the ceilings, both in the entry and the living room. The white ceiling only works to make the walls look even more pinky-peach in contrast. By painting out the ceiling in the paneling background color, you will lessen that considerably. I would get a larger area rug for the entry, something with a creamy field and burgundy accents, which again will tie into the LR but keep the entry lighter in feel. I believe I see a cabinet of some kind in the entry area where the coats are? Be sure you have a lamp there for some warm lighting for the entry. I would take the four small flower pix on the paneled wall in the LR and hang them in the entry in a grouping. I would change out the mats to a neutral, to show off the flowers themselves - you don't even see them in the burgundy matting. The frames are fine. By bringing some of the burgundy onto that entry wall, you will introduce the burgundy color in the entry that will then lead the eye into the LR. I would take the larger piece in burgundy matting and use that over the fireplace - having two pieces of art on that fireplace wall that are matted in green kind of makes it feel like you were trying to match the art, but they are not hanging together so it feels disconnected. I would take all those balls out of the tall vases on the fireplace and puit them in a bowl somewhere - they are lost in those vases. Then find some tall, fountain-like grasses and greens to put in the vases for softness. It seems like you have so many great family photos. I would have them all framed in complimentary frames and use the large paneled sections behind the couch to hang them in a striking grouping. By using those instead of the burgundy matted collection, you will stop highlighting the color of the paneling, and instead will have a varied grouping of photos that will become the focal point. I would also move the photo screen and tuck it in a corner or near something so it doesn't feel like it is just floating in the room by itself. I love the little chest you have by the entry, but I don't like it there. It is heavy and dark, and feels like a barricade to the front door area. I would remove that and leave that entry open. Maybe you could move it over to the other side to where the little green bench is now? Try to get some pillows for the couches that are creamier in their background color, to lighten the feel of those pieces. They could still have a print or a stripe, but should have a lighter overall background that brings in the wall color. Something like this, tho this particular pillow may not be right, but the idea of a lighter background is the key. crewel pillows I don't see much ambient lighting in the room - at least in the views we have, only one lamp on an end table, and that is too small. Put that lamp on the little chest that I had you move over to the other side of the room. Get a bigger lamp for that table, perhaps another lamp to sit on the sewing machine (I think) that is behind the couch acting as a console table. More lighting located lower and that is warmer will also affect how the paneling is perceived, and will keep the eye more focused into the center of the room and away from the walls. I think your room has lots of wonderful things going for it. Settling the entry will help, and then tweaking the LR space and its accessories will make it all feel finished and cohesive.