I don't think there will be a problem of something like disease or pests killing a whole row of these. Part of the appeal is how pest free they are. Mine took off after a couple of years and got very tall in 3 to 4 years (too tall for me to trim the tops without bending down the branches). Extra water will make them grow faster but once established they are very drought tolerant. They are uniform but not so uniform as to make them all need to look exactly alike and if a part is damaged, unlike for a confer type, it will fill back in quickly. Mine have never had any problems, except one outgrew its spot and created too much shade for my purposes in a bed. They are highly recommended in Texas as a drought hardy plant. Also, they are native and that is another plus.

Your crabapples sound really nice, almondstriations; I agree that multi-stem trees are often more interesting in shape. I actually really do like my Hawthorn. Though I am not sure of the cultivar name, I believe it is a Crimson Cloud - it has red flowers with white centers, lovely in bloom, nice foliage, with interesting, almost contorted branches. It is resistant to many of the diseases that plague hawthorns and it doesn't have thorns. I like it very much as a specimen tree; I seem to prefer having specimen trees as opposed to groups of the same tree. The Autumn Blaze maple gets way too big, though maybe it wouldn't get as large here. I am also leery of planting anything that has the silver maple in its parentage - I already deal with the fast growing and therefore weak-limbed/brittle white poplar so really don't want to experience this with another tree. Thank you for the suggestion though, marktrot1, and I am glad that you are enjoying it in your garden and that it grows well for you I went last week to pick up a Tartarian Maple as it seemed like just the thing, but the nursery I went to only had a larger sized tree, really too big for me to plant as well as costing more than I wanted to pay. Instead, I came home with a Picea pungens 'Sesters Dwarf' to plant where the oak tree was, as well as a Picea omorika 'Minima' and a Berbiris thunbergii 'Golden Torch' to plant elsewhere in my front yard. All slow growing, dwarf plants, nothing like the oak I planted, no red fall colour (I think the barberry is supposed to get pinkish in the fall, lol) but I love conifers, which have year round interest (IMHO,) and the lovely golden color of the barberry was very appealing to me. All three plants will fit well into my small front yard. Hopefully they will survive and be happy here.... Thanks again to everyone who has made suggestions. I have an area in my back yard which might be perfect for some of the trees mentioned; they will have plenty of room to grow there, too. Holly

AHMIowa, I suggest that you go to the library and check out architectural books from the 70s and 80s. Do the research and find out who the prominent architects of your area were and look at their work. Local papers often showcase architect designed homes as an on-going feature. You may be able to see pictures in old newpaper articles. Look for old Architectural Digest or Metropolitan Home Magazines which tend to showcase contemporary architecture of the time. I think BHG tend to showcase much more traditional looking homes. In the West Coast, we have Sunset magazine that shows contemporary homes. I am sure there are other magazines. (no Elle Decor or Vogue decor in the 80s) This will educate your eye toward what you like and don't like about that era. You will also see how the 70s and 80s architects treated spaces. When you have trained your eye to what feels appropriate for the house and its era, you will feel much more confident about your choices. For example, sunken LR is a very much of 70s and 80s space configuration. This is not as popular outside of that era. My parents house was a contemporary from that era and had a sunken LR. My brother replaced all continuous flooring with hardwood and it looks good (better than before) and looks quite appropriate for the house. We took out the 30 year old carpet and vinyl. We also have a huge stone fire place as big as yours (not brick) and hardwood looks good with it. Their house has all woodwork in dark stain; all doors, trim and cabinets are the same dark stain. Not quite as dark as espresso of recent. Your house has medium tone from your ceiling. I don't see any other wood work: there is a lack/minimum of trim (a very clean look) and the doors are painted white slab. You also have to remember that the interest rate was double digit in the 70s and 80s and the budget for building houses (even architect designed custom homes) were much humbler than what it is now. The flooring treatment of carpet may have been necessitated by the cost and not by design choice. If the architect had a larger budget, he/she may have chosen to put wood or all ceramic. Hard to know at this point. Here in the Pacific NW, many of that era's contemporary homes had many surfaces covered with wood, often flat toungue in groove; ceiling, flooring and walls. These were often cedar and fir. Because the view sees mostly evergreen trees or water or mountains, these homes feel very much a part of the landscape with so much wood. I suggest medium toned wood for all your woodwork if going that route. The ceiling has set the tone for you. I recently saw a 80s contemporary house that had a complete overhaul to 2010/2011 esthetic. They used dark slab cabinets, dark window frames, concrete floors, metal work for stairs, etc. It did not feel like a 80s home. It really felt like a new home with the 80s shell. Unfortunately, the shell somehow carries its age even resided, repainted, windows replaced, and railing updated etc. You can't make something old look NOT OLD. If you are going this route, you gotta do ALL... I am afraid dark (mocha/espresso) stain is going to the 2011 treatment of modern design, not the 80s design. I love painted slab doors as suggested by palimpest. Ikea makes a line of painted white slab doors. This would be a budget way to go. One of my friends live in a home from the 70s/80s that won the AIA home of the year. This home has been in architecture books. He has all wood floors. All of the tile in that house is small 1x1 glass mossaic tile in a muted pinkish/beige color popular at that time, similar to your carpet. The tub is entirely tiled. They have painted white slab cabinets, very fitting the house. The house had a healthy budget of that era: it has granite counters, all HW, steel tubular railings (that's another item that dates the era). Good luck.

Joe Ghio's Garden does not do on-site sales of PCN's. One day a year he does have a fire-sale of excess TB Iris. He does not accept visitors... If you go to the Monterrey Bay Iris show you may meet Joe and see some exhibited PCN hybrids. April 29, 2017 and April 30th, 2017 at the Louden Nelson Community Center, 301 Center Street, Santa Cruz, CA. The show is open to the public from noon until 6 on Saturday and 11 am until 5 pm on Sunday. Admission is free. The only time you can divide and plant PCN in Bay area is Oct-Nov. This is when Bay View and other growers will ship bare roots. If you want to more access to Iris look to local club sales or join a local Iris club. The SPCNI has their seed sale on now, membership is required and can be purchased at the same time.