The part about WATERING SPARINGLY is important enough to warrant repeating. With leaves removed, your plant will only use a small fraction of the water it used before defoliation. Using a 'tell' to tell you when it's time to water (or withhold it) is a good way to stay on track. Using a 'tell' Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. Al

Hey, no green thumb! I have been thinking of you and your patio. I'm so glad you found someone who really listened to what you wanted. Now, you can enjoy the planting and evolution of your outdoor area! :o) I hope you'll post pictures when you can. I totally agree that I never want to be "done" planting things, as you said. The expanse of land is for sure our focal point, and I don't want to overdo it or obstruct the view to the back yard. Squirrel, your dad sounds like he was a wonderful, creative person. I think that creativity is so important with outdoor areas, just as it is indoors. It's amazing how much is added to a property visually with plantings and color in the form of flowers and trees. I'm going to check out the link you posted. Thanks so much! While we'll value insight from a professional, we definitely want to have some input. It's not going to happen overnight, that's for sure. Maybe it's too much to Photo Shop too, but a visual would be very helpful. Carol, thanks for your thoughts. I would love a colorful tree, as the Redbud you mentioned. It's interesting you mentioned maple and oak trees. We have a 140-year-old maple and a 150-year-old oak in the front yard. I love them SO much. We had to cut down a clump of box elder trees to place the house, which may not have been a great loss, as I understand they are not great trees, but now the back yard has a large clearing, compared to our tree-filled front yard. I want to keep the clearing for the most part, but add some trees around the perimeter, and both maple and oak are native here. I guess we have to stay at least 25 feet away from the patio with large trees, and that's okay. We do get shade on the patio most of the afternoon from the house itself. Do you all think that the cushions for the patio furniture must be the same color, or can I mix and match with patterns and solids, etc? Thanks again, all, Jan

I'm late to the party but I received this 10% off total order coupon from Home Theater Direct a few days ago Code: sale2017. They only have a sale once a year. This is the second house I have put their ceiling speakers in because I love them. This time my set-up placement wasn't ideal in my open plan so I ordered the new ones that can be aimed (18 degree angle) into the listening area. I was a big believer in free standing only speakers before I got these (and I'm fussy). I haven't tried their wall or ceiling mound subwoofer as mine is free standing. These are good for music and movies. Your man might like these if he doesn't already have speakers. HD R65AIM http://www.htd.com/Products/Speakers/In-Wall-Ceiling-Speakers?_ga=1.56249067.1563787863.1482021409

Annie, I noticed that lack of knowledge about fabric weaves, also. Batik is not a type of fabric. As most of us know, it is a dying technique. And, batiste, is much too thin to use for this. Given the rest of the ignorance about fabrics, weaves, and fibers that is probably not a misquote. It is also not true that the spaces between fibers are larger in a knit than in a woven. It depends on what fabric is being talked about. Some of these new knits do actually have some pretty large spaces between the fibers. Most of those are synthetic knits and if you wear a pair of pants made out of that fabric, you will feel the wind blow through. All knit is not the same, though. If you have a nice cotton interlock knit, you will not see any light between the fibers, unless, of course your fabric came from an old worn out garment. A cotton interlock knit will also have a bit of fuzziness to the yarns that it is knit from, thus, creating little bits of fuzz that may catch that droplet of contaminated moisture. A synthetic fiber is more like a string of plastic that is smooth and has a slick surface that won't catch or hold anything. A fabric that is really tightly woven is what is called "sheeting". I have seen sheeting fabric on bolts that is dyed in the batik method. It was popular back some years ago. Sheeting cotton is so hard and tight that the sewing machine needle needs to be really sharp to pierce it and sometimes multiple layers of it can be really hard to sew. You may need a thimble to even get a hand needle through it. It is possible that this experiment used a piece of batik dyed cotton and that cotton fabric happened be a sheeting fabric. I never understood why it is said that this is a good fabric to use as quilt backing. It may be sturdy , but it is so hard to get a hand needle through. A cotton muslin would be a better choice for running quilting stitches through. I am not sure how sheeting differs from a percale. A tight percale might be a good substitute. It might even be classified as a percale. I don't know. But, I do know that it is some tight and tough stuff without being bulky. I have some in my mask making arsenal and have been sewing on it and through it the last few days. The sewing machine needle will let you know when you hit a piece of sheeting fabric. I think that this researcher, or this person who wrote about it, did not know anything substantial about fabric, weaves, knits or fibers. This is very unhelpful information. Also, there is not really anything that is designated as heavyweight quilters cotton. Most cotton that is sold for piecing at places like Joanns is pretty poor cheap cotton, with a few minor exceptions. Good quality cotton that is sold in speciality stores is not better quality because it is "heavier". It is good quality because it is made of longer staple cotton fibers that make the fabric nicer. Being "heavy" is not a quality that you want when piecing.