yes, it is heavier. This house is similar to the house the DH and I just sold. It had a raised concrete patio in front of the house. I didn't know how to landscape in front of that PIA :o) and I don't know how to landscape in front of this one either. I don't know how this owner feels about their patio, but I didn't want plants large enough that they would obscure the view. Also didn't want the predictable symmetry of two same-size pyramidal evergreens on each side of the house. As I said above, I'm no designer. I'm just playing around with pictures, trying to keep reality in mind. To be real honest, if it were me, I'd never plant the large shrub by the corner of the house, just because I'm onery and it's one of those things that "everybody" does, so I wouldn't! That, and we had to cut down two at our previous home 'cuz they had grown to well over 30 feet high. Needless to say that they dwarfed our little ranch/tract home, a house that already sat on a hill. It was atrocious. Anyhow, thanks for the notice re: balance or lack thereof. I'll leave that to the homeowner, but I would love a suggested solution to landscaping around those darned patios. I don't have one anymore, but I'd still like to know. Moon

Oh, dear. In this case, I'll be more explicit. One little flower on either side of the door will not improve the looks of the house. Make a real bed that extends from the sidewalk under the window to the left that is 4' deep. Kill or remove the grass, dig in amendments, and make a clear, clean line between grass and the flower bed. (It can be maintained with a string trimmer.) Plant a line of large hostas along the back. They are NOT "out of season" in Austin right now. They are perennial. (I'm pretty sure that they have a VERY short dormancy in Austin, but I can't remember that clearly.) However, you still might have to wait until spring to find them if you only want to shop as Home Depot. In front of them, plant a bunch of annuals. These will die every year, so they have to be replanted each season. In October, plant pansies in front of the hostas. Don't plant just one row. Plant three staggered, with the center line offset. Plant them pretty close together. When it warms and the pansies begin looking ragged, pull them out and plant periwinkles, if you can find them, and if you can't then plant impatiens. The New Guinea type will give you more "bang." (I advise periwinkles over impatiens in this case because they are lower care, whereas impatiens in your climate need more water.) You can even find periwinkles, impatiens, and pansies at Wal-mart, let alone Lowe's or Home Depot. If you would rather not mow under the palm, you can underplant it with jasmine. On the right side of your front door, go out at a 45 degree angle 3' and there you can plant a skyrocket juniper.

Memorr, we had exactly the same situation 3 years ago. Now, our backyard is completely private. We created what we refer to as a 'living fence' with mixed borders. The depth of the border and the mix of trees and shrubs varies all around the yard. At one narrow area of the border (about 12' feet deep)we have Cryptomeria japonica (Japanese cedar) with fast growing Hydrangea paniculata 'Quickfire' in between. The Quickfires filled in the space while the cryptomerias were growing in. In another area we staggered Nellie R. Stevens hollies (Ilex x 'Nellie R. Stevens'). This portion is probably also 12' deep (it's raining or I would go out and measure). In front of a row of Viburnum awabuki 'Chindo' (we haven't had a problem with fungus here but it may be different in Florida) we have a 'grove' of 5 Natchez crepe myrtles (Lagerstroemia 'Natchez'). Two other privacy screens were created using Ligustrum japonicum which we keep pruned into a tight hedge. It took 2 years for them to row together. We keep them about 6 1/2 feet high. We need to prune several times a year. In front of one of these hedges, which is close to our patio, we have a row of 'Natchez' crepe myrtles again and a low hedge in front of those.. This made our patio feel very private immediately. The other hedge is an island in the yard in front of which we planted roses and other shrubs. It blocks a view to our neighbors' yard and added to the overall feeling of privacy while the outside 'fence' was growing in. We have been so happy with the results. We did have a landscaper plant the large trees - hollies, cryptomeria, crepe myrtles - because, like you, we didn't want to wait to get results. So, they were all at least 10' tall when they went in. They also planted the ligustrum hedges using shrubs that were about 4' tall. Best money we ever spent! We planted everything else. I will be happy to post some pictures if you're interested. Best of luck to you!

We live in Colorado so way different climate but I also planted roses for color outside and to bring inside. What I learned is I had to adjust my expectatons away from bouquets to bud vases and floating dishes. They make great displays without consuming alot of flowers. The end of season, before the first frost, is the only time I really get bouquets. This was my haul last Oct. I like the sprays from the miniatures and other spray roses like Sally Holmes to flesh out the arrangments. There are also some asters, shasta daisies and orange mango red hot pokers in there as they are my fall bloomers. During the summer I do cut some for display in the house but alot of time it is a tough choice whether to leave garden color or put some inside. This is the type of arrangements I get in Aug. when I'm still leaving most flowers on the bushes. In May I get these arrangments from the grocery store. LOL. Compared to July from my garden: Actually this dish (below) includes some from someone else's garden who gave me some blooms when I visited. I believe I have about 25 bushes and have been growing roses for 4 years. But my climate is very different from yours. One thing I think I have done really well at is choosing roses that go together in arrangments. When I buy a new one I hold it up to the flowers from roses I already have to make sure the color is harmonious with my other choices. Occassionally I have picked one up that really clashes and have to put it back. Because I live near High Country Roses I get all my roses at their green house which affords me the ability to do this.