You Alyssum is fine...cotyledons do that because they are no longer needed :D For the most part they all seem to look pretty good to me! The first scares me though somewhat given the fact the way you lost the seedlings in one single locations rather than random losses around the container. Was probably a good thing you removed the top...just in case a fungal attack was underway! For the last 5 years mine have always been in sun from start to finish or until temps are 75+. Only non-germinated ones get moved from the S.W. location and go to afternoon shade at that point. I have VERY little shade as well and normally by middle of May everything I have is planted out. Right now as it is I only have 7 containers completely topless: Mustard, Collard, Broccoli, Rudbeckia hirta, Penstemon, Golden Marguerite and one of 3 containers of Calendula with all it's seed germinated. Only thing I'm worried about now is the dips down to mid 20's were are expecting...so in come the Marigolds, Cosmos, and a single container of Brandywine Tom's. Vera

What I've heard is that the traditional way to use toile is to have it be the only print in the room but use it heavily. That's why I initially did not like toile because whenever I saw it in photographs the walls where wallpapered in the same toile as the draperies and pillows and bedding were made of. Now I've gotten used to that look and I can appreciate it more but I think it's an acquired taste. Now I love the look of toile wallpaper enveloping a room with matching draperies. Where I think it goes to far is when the bedding is made of the toile. Now the eye has no place to rest so I think it looks better to have a white matelasse coverlet cover the bed (another large surface area) and have just a couple toile pillow shams to tie in with the walls and drapes. There can be a coverlet in the toile color folded at the foot of the bed. But the chair fabric and the comforter should be a solid white IMO. I'll never forget a room I saw once done up by Ethan Allen. The walls were papered in black and white toile with matching draperies (so the wallpapering company has to hook up with the fabric company and make the same print). There were two Bergere chairs with ottomans in a seating area of the bedroom, both had dark wood with solid white upholstery. Between the two chairs was a round table draped to the floor with a solid black matelasse tablecloth and a white square topper. The wood on the bed frame was dark and they had a white coverlet on the bed with toile pillows and another coverlet folded at the foot of the bed, I think it was solid black. So the room was a medly of black and white. It was very jarring and the contrast of black against bright white was a bit much for me. It was memorable that's for sure. I don't know if many people have the guts to put toile wallpaper on their walls (!) but even if you didn't I think I'd still chose to either have the pillows shams in the toile or the comforter in the toile, but not both together. There can also be a padded headboard in the toile. The idea behind it is that you can get away with a room saturated in toile because it's the only print in the room. It's hard to tell the drapes from the walls because it all blends in. I can't remember if they included a black and white checked fabric, I don't think they did because of the walls. That's another option I've seen used many times, have a second print in a non-floral, non-toile design to coordinate with the toile...usually that's a check in the same two colors as the toile. I have the same question as stargirl, when is there too much toile in a HOUSE...how many different rooms can you get away using a different toile?

Really, thank you so much. So many great insights, and the best of all is to clean up the room, and live with it for a bit. My mind was stuck in the 'got to make a decision while the tape/plastic is up' track. It never occurred to me that I could remask--don't ask me why. My only excuse is I'm feeling overwhelmed. I recently moved to Germany, I don't speak the language yet, and the simplest tasks are difficult. The paint store is so foreign. There are about 20 pre-mixed colors (which look universally ugly), tons of white, and little bottles of concentrated color--you get to mix your own colors. I'm sure this is a delight to a real artist, but for those of us who flunked kindergarten art class--it's a challenge. Oh the things I've learned here (wish I would have known the primer trick on the first coat....) NHB room gave me hope that a vibrant yellow can work beautifully. I'll put up some pictures and see how I feel. I'll probably experiment to come up with a soft, universal color to eventually paint the whole house. Another amazing thing is their paint is not washable. It's more like a milk paint that washes off when scrubbed. As the owner of 3 dogs, I do wash walls, so they will be repainted one way or another. In the meantime, I'll investigate the possibility of glaze because I HATE edging so much that I was about to paint everything white. I so liked the fabric choices Les came up with, that I'm going to post my sofa and see if someone can work some magic there. You people are fabulous. I appreciate the help and all the honesty. Walkin-- kak dela? and prost from the Fatherland. I went to a gathering last week and met a number of people from the old Eastern Blok--all old enough to speak Russian and lament that the next generation was going to be divided; in the next breath, cursing the Motherland--gotta love those Slavs. I knew whom it was immediately from your greeting. I've spent the last several years helping take care of my father who had Alzheimer's--what a horrendous disease. I had no energy left to even think about any projects. But, it was all good. I have no regrets, I spent precious time with my family, and my father and I grew very close on a new level. I feel fortunate that I could spend that time with them. I have a feeling, I'll probably be asking for a lot of help. I have acquired a new look: a very contemporary house, I mostly brought things that I wouldn't regret losing, and they are more traditional in style. I guess we could call it modern rummage sale: nothing fits, most of it is a cast-off, and it all needs to be done on a budget. (We had the WORST, most expensive move possible--nightmares upon disaster). So, doesn't that seem like a good challenge for the decorating milieu? I'm glad to see you here and I'd love to see some pictures of what you've done to your place.

I noticed yesterday my Haworthia is starting to brown at the stem. It is only soft at the very end of the stem. Is this pot to big? How about coloration of all Haworthia? I live in Northwest Arkansas and our weather has been cooler than normal. I keep them outside on our front porch. I dusted them with Diatomaceous Earth. Our front porch faces north. We get sun only in the morning, but they do not get direct sun. Please advise me on any thing I can do to comfort them more. I use only rainwater when I water. I have a moisture meter to check levels of moisture in the soil. I am using a Terra cotta pot with a drainage hole. I have put small rocks in the bottom before I used soil. Is the pot to big? I hope you can see these pictures good enough to advise me. The 4 show are the only plants that have gone soft on me. Should I repot all of them to make sure the soil is not contaminated? The soil I use has a lot of course sand in it. Below is a picture of the soil. Then a picture of the location of my plants at 8:38 am. Please help me. I will do anything I need to do.