Lou, didn't mean to bother you. I should have thought through the many equally valuable cultural differences in this beautiful land of ours and prefaced my question with "To those of you with a front porch on your house that's big enough to hold a potted plant, meaning no disrespect to those of you without a front porch or with a front porch that is not big enough to hold more than the cat's dish". In my hurried self-centeredness I didn't even consider the feelings of the good people who live in the puckerbush who have no sidewalks or curbs nor noticeable front porches. No harm was meant by this honest mistake. I do hope, however, that my error has served a higher purpose, which is to put you closer in touch with your hermit roots and the values of puckerbush life. Peace. Stuartwanda, annuals would be at the bottom of my list, but since the list is so short, they may be my second choice. Sherry Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

We were mulling over the same question a few years ago. We started out thinking screened porch but then realized how much we needed a 4-season gathering space when we entertained. Friends who had gone the 3-season route told us they were essentially 'no season' rooms because they were too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter (you know Minnesota extremes). So we decided to ante up for a 4-season room and we are so glad we did! We went 16'x24', put in 2 sliding glass patio doors to the deck, plus 8 good-sized windows, and a double French door to the dining room. It is a room of light all year round! We followed our furnace guy's recommendation to put in a gas fireplace for heat and a ductless minisplit for air conditioning. They both work splendidly and we can just turn them off and shut the door to the rest of the house when we're not using the room. We love the room in all seasons. With the help and advice of some very skilled siblings, we did almost all the work ourselves and it cost around $40,000.

Our screenporch is elevated as well. I think the porch is about the same size as yours. Safety is important to me since I have young grandkids. We used the same company for the screen porch railing system as the railing on the deck. I think the company was Westbury. Powder coated frame and railing along with the columns that are floor to ceiling. The screen goes from floor to ceiling with a tiny gap. my builder installed this system with a gap at the bottom for water drainage. Our screen is black (I think) and very flexible.. I don’t recall the type of screen. the view to the lake is virtually unchanged with this screen. This is the only picture I have. I can get another pic if you are interested.

It does seem very individual. Mosquitoes are a problem all summer in mid-South and especially at dusk. I previously had an open deck, so no overhead fan, and got driven in by bugs. Now have a screened porch which is elevated so not able to do a comparison re: height! But have some open deck down a few stairs and definitely more skeeters there. We eat on the porch a lot and another thing I wonder about is flies. Previously when having a meal out on an open deck we were constantly waving flies away & covering any food even if still serving. No such issues with screens. I do like that we have some unscreened deck because it is a different experience & when not buggy, I also like to sit out there.