My thoughts are exactly along catkim's lines. But I would just leave a very small opening (because it's only hard to pry out the first brick, and then you can always enlarge it). For a vine, you actually need just a very small opening into the ground. If you leave just two bricks out, let's say, you will be able to enlarge it if you like and the majority of your patio will be well-laid and leveled, plus the space for those two bricks will be pretty exact. Leave a bigger space than that, and it will be tricky to fill it in well. The thing about leaving a full bed the length of the stairs is everything from mess to weeding/making more mess (and dirt on patio = weed seeds sprouting on patio in the cracks), but also the risk of dropping a chair leg off the edge of the stone into the dirt. This patio is going to feel SMALL for the furniture you have in mind. I don't think you should shrink its effective size. Also keep in mind that your doorway is recessed and quite dark. A vine will make it feel and look more closed in, in case that matters to you. And these big perennial vines can get pretty overwhelming. I personally love clematis and would probably put one there, but I'm not sure I would put it in the ground. You could leave it in a pot, and always cut it back to the ground (or bottom two buds if a B-type) every year. And once it gets too vigorous (as many do after three or four years), you might like to put in a new one. This is very tricky to do in the ground adjacent to a patio without damaging the patio. Maybe some annual vines would be more fun. Again, way easier in a container. Plus, the container gives you another decor item to have some fun with. On the other hand, it takes up some space. So I would lay and tamp the whole patio but for two bricks. Undoing it later from there if you want a bigger bed is way easier than filling it in. You can minimize the crush layer in that area if you really feel you will want to open it up. By the way, is there a basement here? If so, you want your subgrade to tilt away from the house. Karin L

If you are prepared to wash the stems and leaves thoroughly with luke warm water and trim it back where it is very distorted you could give it a whirl. But then I am coming from a climate where growing a gardenia is a distant dream so I'd obviously try to save it.

Well, if you could post a photo, you would get a lot better advice; but short of that you should first know, when you dramatically change the light conditions a Meyer will drop most, if not all its leaves, to replace them later with leaves better suited to the new light conditions. To move a Meyer from outside to inside without the leaf loss, you need to move it from full sun to partial sun for 2 weeks; then to full shade for 2 weeks; then indoors; reverse the process when putting it out in the Spring... and please DO put it out, if you can; you will be rewarded with a happy, healthy plant. Second, when you bring it indoors to a sunny window, the plant gets warm; but the roots generally stay cool; and citrus roots don't like to grow into cool soil... the solution is to put some sort of heater to warm the soil, or to put the plant a little further from the window. An occasional misting is also good.The thing to remember is first the roots grow; and then the leaves and branches. As for the blooms it is normal for Meyers to bloom this time of year (the secondary crop); they will bloom again in Spring. Depending on the size of the tree and the age (photo?) you can leave a few fruits AFTER the blooms have finished and the fruit is BB to pea size. If you cut the blooms, the tree will just make more, so enjoy them. Maturity from fruit set to harvest for a Meyer is normally about 7 months; but that can vary with location and heat. In your climate you will know they are ready to harvest when they get yellow

If you mean 'which ones form more hurricanes for us', it's a wash. El Nino tends to form more hurricanes in the Pacific, because wind shear is higher in the tropical Atlantic. La Nina tends to form more hurricanes in the Atlantic because wind shear is higher in the Pacific. But that's not reality as we need to look at it. El Nino tends to form more storms, later for us, around Central America. Those storms, while less, have a greater chance of hitting us. While NOAA, etc likes to brag about how many storms they can name in the Atlantic during a La Nina year, La Nina tends to form more storms closer to Africa. They have a greater tendency to turn out to sea and become fish storms and never hit us. Corrie