Roses and irises and peonies! Oh my! With all that eye candy my eyes would burp if they knew how... The Zephirine Drouhin roses continue to grow up on the porch. They smell wonderful and have almost no thorns (important on a porch). This shot of irises was from a week ago. I like the change in levels - the siberian iris on top of the stone wall and Beverly Sills bearded iris on the bottom, with cotoneaster carpeting the wall. This morning I opened the shades and saw a hummingbird sitting on the Rugosa Yankee Lady. It didn't seem to be getting nectar from the rose, but the feeder is right next to it and the hummingbird was probably resting between snacks. Also in bloom: Dicentras one hellebore geraniums Biokovo and Macrorhizum one daylily Alchemilla Kalmia Leucothoe ajuga (ending) As for what's happening, I had to stake up a Carefree Beauty rose. The rose was stuffed between two big New England asters last year and refused to bloom, so I moved the asters a month or so ago. So now the rose decided to bloom, but to flop all over the irises. I made a tripod out of three 6 ft bamboo poles (on sale for 79c each at Ocean State Job Lot) and tied them together with twine. I then used a cable tie on top of the twine to make it more permanent. (Mindy might be interested). The poles are shoved into the ground a little bit which helps with stability. I don't know how well it will last, but the rose seems happy now. The tripod is lopsided, but I was working in the middle of a planting bed with a panicky rose flailing around (with thorns). Claire

There is no way that antifreeze got on this orchid, but yes, green, like anti freeze.... It has been in that pot for months and in the exact same pleace without any issues, then overnight - I get this... It's the only one with this issue and I have 4 plants right next to it with no issues... Regarding the frost... it's been in the 80's down here in south florida, so I don't think that's what happened... I am totally stumped... I also didn't realize that I posted this on the gallery forum...Should I try over in the regular form to see if anyone else has seen this? Thanks! K

Just got another Restoration Hardware Catalogue Disaster in the mail. I was, and rarely am, speechless. I have now recovered, as you shall see. STILL unsure what happened to this brand! 2023 articles say the CEO blamed brand problems on sourcing and a too aggressive pricing strategy. The company won a lawsuit against knockoff manufacturers. Unknown at current time if this company is still in the red. Is the list above really the problem? Ohhhhh, methinks something is rotten in Denmark, so they put it on boats and shipped it here. The style, anyhow. Hygge Despair. This stuff is made in China. STILL NOT THE PROBLEM. These are worst furniture designs in high end. That Worst: Where this once innovative company offered modern, streamlined versions of classic Shaker standard pieces, the aesthetic ? Can we call it that? — now seems simply Teenage Incel Fantasy Furniture! desperate, almost—Austin-Powers-slash-(oh i tried to avoid Latin c u m here)-dank-bachelor-pad-dream nightmare! It cannot be mixed with American classic. And the children’s furniture! Who would EVER put children in a visual environment so bleak? No colors, no varied textures, no visual stimulation, no … it cannot be stopped. But some of it looks like livestock cages, right down to prison bar crib! Is your child even visible behind these pieces? Is your child allowed crayons?! The Near-Nonexistent Best: There is none. And if that was an oxymoron — ox Y moron — it can only be topped by the Byron Daybed. This piece appears to have the visual tonnage of an ox AND drunk morons will mistake it for a sauna. Bryon Daybed. Lord Byron, the Greatest Incel of Them All, the exception who proved the rule, the poet who decided: Why leave the house for the Greatest of Social Activities Given to Civil Men? Make the baby at home with the half-sister! Daybed indeed, the oxymoronic frolicker … just … just … splutter … Great. Must we be PLAGUED by waves of upscaled Eurotrash trendiness? There is NO American equivalent to Austin Powers for a reason, or Lord Byron, or anything in between, for a reason! Not even our new uber-tech robber-baron villains lounge around on this stuff! It’s not that I am immune to great literature, by the way. The man had a way with words, but divvil take the hindermost back across the sea! Also, please forgive me, England and UKers. And we forgive YOU for reviving mod. It’s not your fault. You live too close to the mothership sun (Nordlandia) not to get burned. Keep the early Belgian slope pieces, likewise the earliest bureau styles, (reupholster the first, alter the top of the latter so as to disguise RH) but I beg of you! do not buy any line from the last 5 years! It costs a fortune, and most humans cannot tolerate this too spare, adolescent aesthetic at the two-year-later mark. Your client is left defrauded with ALMOST NO RESALE, so … DO NOT recommend or purchase for clients. Ladies! We must defer and gracefully steer them toward — even Victorian Badhouse if you must, but anything else! Opinions from other decorators and clients have agreed: This furniture looks as though it was created for aging cokeheads, incels, angry giants, and/or heavy duty hospital/triage use—all to be easily cleaned of toxic fluid discharge! Don’t walk away, just RUN! And for the love of … more splutter … for the millionth time RH … take me OFF the mailing list! (Thanks Houzzers, forgive the rant! This is a war for the Soul of American Style!) ❤️

I'm late to this party... found this thread in a search for Bali motorized cellular shade parts. Here's my $0.02. I've had Bali motorized shades for 6 1/2 years now. I have three separate shades on single headrail. They've mostly worked flawlessly during that time. But, about a year ago, two of them started squeaking, and as of this writing, one quit working altogether. The issue is not the Somfy motors that power them (Somfy is used in many blind brands) but rather the raising and lowering mechanism itself... a small threaded piece, critical to operation has broken (see the photos). Bali customer support has not been very useful. They are very slow to respond and misunderstood my requests in two emails. I am hoping that the third time is a charm and that they can help me source the parts; I've had no luck so far. To answer your specific question: No, you cannot operate the blinds manually in case of failure; the motor is geared to the raise/lower rollers and they cannot be moved without removing or operating the motor.