The flowers of the lacecaps last just as long as the fuller mopheads do, but because the flowers themselves are different, the appearance after they fade is different as well. The large, sterile flowers (like the mops) on the outer edge will hold their form well and go through a variety of color changes as they age like George and creech mention. The tiny fertile flowers in the center of the inflorescense do not hold up as well and their tired appearance late in the season may be what you object to. Personally, I find the mature, aged flowers of the lacecaps rather appealing and well, lacy looking :-) I hestitate to cut them off until my spring clean-up as they look very attractive in winter with frost on them, etc. Right now, my climbing hydrangea and other lacecap hydrangeas are only starting to look tattered with their old flower heads still attached, but then we have had considerable rain lately and a fierce windstorm this past weekend and everything that has held up through winter is looking a bit worse for wear. Major clean up is on the horizon! My opinion may be biased by the fact that I prefer lacecaps over the mops, too :-)

When we had our new white oak floor finished in our new kitchen, the smell was AWFUL!!! We were prohibited to enter our house for a full 12 hours after the first coat was put on. When we came up to the house, we could smell it outside the house!! The floor people had told us we could return to occupy the house after 3 days. HA! When we entered 12 hours later to just look at the floor, the smell was like nothing we had ever imagined! Our throats tightened and burned and our eyes were weeping! My DH likened it to tear gas in the Navy! We just glanced at it and left immediately. Two days later we went back to open some windows to create some cross ventilation. It was still VERY smelly. Too smelly for me. We basically stayed away (camping on air mattresses at my parents house) for 6 days. I am very sensitive to smells, so someone less sensitive might have been able to go back in a little sooner, but not much sooner. Our finish was an oil based product and it was extremely smelly. We were prohibited to turning on the furnace so dust and lint particles would not adhere to the just finished floor. It could have taken less time to cure if the outside weather would have been warmer. We just happened to coincide the floor finishing with the coldest weather we had to date of 19 degrees ! I'm sure that didn't help. After we came back home a week later, the smell lingered for a few weeks more, but thankfully not at the intensity of the first few days!! I opened windows every day, weather permitting, and was able to use the furnace too. That helped a lot! I'd say that there was a faint smell for about a month. I hate to say it, but three weeks later we repeated the above process with the second coat of sealer. Yucko smelly again! The end result was a beautiful oak floor in our new kitchen. In the future, we would like to refinish our original 90 year old white oak floors in the LR, DR and hall. They have the original finish from 1925! I think we may have to move out for that project! OMG!!! I can honestly say that we are not rushing into that project just yet!!! :)

I can't tell for sure, obviously. But whatever is it it's not good for a plant. Any insect or disease needs to be taken care of. It looks like a mealy bugs, the white cottony mass is usually sign of them. Try wiping the leaves with a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol, or a q-tip. Try shaking the piece over sheet of paper & see if any tiny 'things' fall on it - spider mites are very small, sometimes you can find them this way. Spider mites make webs too, slightly different than mealy bugs. Using insecticidal soap/spray or neem oil should help to get rid of them.

http://www.customceramic.com/index.htm is the one place in the US that could re-porcelain a sink. I've read elsewhere that this place is no longer doing that but posted the link anyway. Because I might have read bad info or remembered wrong. More info here: https://retrorenovation.com/2011/09/06/real-porcelain-enamel-coating-to-restore-your-drainboard-sink-tub-or-stove/ Update May 2015: Custom Ceramic’s waiting list is now two to three years long. Yes: Years. From the comments section: I was wondering if anyone has had any luck hearing back from Custom Ceramic Coatings? I have been trying since last year. I’ve tried sending emails and calling and leaving messages and have not heard back.