I haven't grown caladiums, but I am growing elephant ears (colocasia) and alocasia, which are close relatives. I grow them in large wooden tubs in the summer. They are in an area that is fairly shady most of the day. I have found that they want much more water than any of the many other plants I've grown in decades. I have to water every other day even though the surface of the soil is still moist. Otherwise they wilt dramatically. I added extra peat and composted manure to my standard 5-1-1 this year, and the plants are thriving. I think your caladiums need more water, not less. They may also need larger pots. I can see roots near the surface of the soil in my 20-gallon pot on a plant that was nothing but a tuber two months ago.

Huldine is a very vigorous clematis once it becomes established. It might overpower a weak support system. It is nicest when grown on a free standing arch or tuteur because then you can view the wonderful markings on the reverse of the tepals. Huldine is my alltime favourite clematis! I'm not sure of the size of your set-up, but there should be plenty of room for the rose and lilies to expand. Huldine is pruned to about 12" in late winter each year. Take a look at the Hull database site tomorrow when the site should be working once more. Photos and information are useful there. Here is a link that might be useful: Clematis database

The brand is Armstrong I found this info on a label on my system. Packaged furnace - gas, a/c Direct vent forced air unit with cooling unit Type msp Cooling 970 seer 64hwc242a-gb Does this tell me more about the quality of my system. I assume that this system belongs in the 3rd or lower tier. Do I now call this system a HVAC unit. I assume that there is no heat pump involved in this unit. Yea...Right...Novice questions I know... but you have to start somewhere. Thanks

I don't understand why they're putting so much wasted space in the design. Our cabs are frameless and custom like yours and they don't have all those fillers. Our island has 9' 9" of cabinetry in a little over 9' 10" of space, which include the end panel beside the DW at the edge. Our island cabs are 24" DW, 36" sink base, 24" DW, 15" trash compactor, 18" recycle pullout and it all fits under a 10' island which was the largest slab of caesarstone we could get. So not sure what your designer is doing? Seems to be just adding inches reflexively without bothering to be precise -- adding 2" to a recycle pullout is just odd ... and adding 4" to a fridge opening odder still. Maybe the fridge you chose needs some clearance on each side, but 4" is nuts. What do the fridge specs say? The appliance you select will have detailed specs that dictate the minimum cab cutout size. Our MW drawer is 24", fridge drawer also fits in 24", etc... you get the idea. So you should look up the specs of your appliances and check them yourself and if they don't mesh up with what she's doing then I'd be questioning her hard. The whole point of going with a custom shop is to make maximum use of your space and to get custom sizes wherever you want them. Something is very wrong here.