I don't think a picture of crown rot would really be that helpful. What you would see is a gray mushy looking material. What is helpful is the odor and the foliage. If you smell any stink at all coming from the crown you may have already lost the plant depending on the amount of crown destroyed. If you see the foliage falling over and turning yellow it has gone critical. Pull the center foliage and if it comes out in your hand dig up the entire plant and wash and scrub the crown area and then leave it for a month or more on the cement to fully dry out. One gal I know saved hers by putting an anti-bacterial, anti-fungal foot powder on the rotting area after she had cleaned it up the best she could. Think of it like a wound on your arm. On a centimeter of flesh we typically have about 25 million beneficial bacteria. However sometimes harmful bactera gets past the protective layer of bacteria on our arm. If you don't get all the harmful bacteria out of the wound then pus will start and make the wound worse so first you clean it well and use anti-bacterial cleaners such as betadine, or iodine and soak the wound in epsom salts which kills the bacteria. I like to plant new arrivals in aged compost in a pot where I can watch the plant. Once the pot is full of roots I then put the plant in the ground which typically takes 2-3 months. Clearly some cultivars are much more prone to rot than others but it takes a trigger - usually high heat and lots of moisture combined, but not always. I have not had any crown rot for several years. I suspect it is because I garden organically and use almost no inorganic (salt based) fertilizer. Prior to that I did have one daylily where 50% rotted from a large clump while it was in the ground. The other three that rotted all rotted after they had been dug and replanted. I'm convinced that some daylilies have a better "immune system" than others and are better able to ward off rot. The rot is not the disease but merely nature cleaning up dead tissue. Whe a plant is surrounded by disease preventing fauna the disease causing fauna cannot get established. The food and cell sites are simply not available. Overfertilizing with salt based fertilizers will kill the beneficial bacteria and fungi leaving the plant without it's natural defense mechanisms. If that plant lacks the ability to grow beneficial bactera as they do through exudates in the root system it may be more vulneralbe. Also when dug and divided the hair roots are destroyed and the area around the crown may be exposed allowing harmful bacteria to enter the wound site. Normally the beneficial bacteria in the soil will prevent the "boom and bust" cycle of the harmful bacteria. Compare it to damping off with seedlings. When I use sterile soil or well aged compost I never get damping off. However, if I use potting soil that is not sterile damping off is often a problem with seedlings. Why? You would think the aged compost is full of bacteria and fungi and it is so why is it safe? It must have beneficial bacteria and fungi for disease prevention and it does. Crown rot can start when a plant lacks protection. Once crown rot has started you have to clean out the wound and dry it off to stop the harmful bacteria. Salt, sulphur, anti-bacterial powders, or fungicides, bleach work well in killing the rot but a bleach soak will have killed all the bacteria benifical and harmful so the plant may still be vulneralbe to re-exposure to harmful bacteria. I like to use agricultural sulphur or to cleaning out all of the rot and drying it out which removes the ability for the harmful bacteria to grow. If you saw a dead animal rotting and full of flies and maggots you would not say the flies killed the animal. They are actually solving a problem by consuming the rotting flesh. I look at crown rot the same way.

Whoa Nellie!!!!! Someone told you to stay away from Marble? Shame on them! First off Marble has been around for 1000s of years. Octavia herself had marble surrounding her when she put on her makeup. Some of the greatest chefs who roamed the planet cooked on Marble. Being Italian I have to say Marble is the way to go. And Greeks, Italinos and NYC cooks can all agree that rolling out dough on a marble surface is a dream. Yes, Marble etches. Yes, Marble can stain and Yes Marble has a reputation for being sensitive. But Marble is BEAUTIFUL. And Marble is not as difficult to care for as most people believe. It can be cleaned with Bleach. Yes, good ole fashioned bleach. I do not mean Comet or one of those powder bleaches. They can scratch. Every 5-10 years have it re-honed or treated by a stone expert. They can buff to perfection. And of course Seal your marble every 6 months. You would have to thie with Blue or Emerald Pearl granite. And you really can't bleach your granite. That could create some ugly whitish looking marks. In a bathroom bleach is a great cleaner and even better with MARBLE. How to clean Marble from E-How http://www.ehow.com/how_4870687_clean-marble.html ".....One of the best cleaners you can use on your cultured marble is a bleach water solution. Use a 2/1 ratio of bleach and water to clean your cultured marble. Spray the surface with this solution and wipe with a soft cloth. Always keep the cultured marble wet while working on it. To fill fine scratches and restore shine, try a small amount of car/appliance wax, or silicone sealer...." Okay lets look at Marble for your bathroom. I really think you need to reconsider Marble for your bathroom. Ask the gang over in Kitchens. There are many who love their Marble. And some of these folks use vinegar, lemon, tomato sauce and olive oil which we all know can stain it. These are all from Decorpad... Park Hyatt Sydney Marble Carrera thid Old House Siegrist After NOW. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK below at how beautiful marble would be with your auburn stain. Sorry I sound pushy, I just can help but think you want Marble and the entire Pearl search was because you were accidentally misguided. If I am wrong. Please forgive me. At least you have had fun thinking about options. ~boxer Marble Statuario Venato Calcutta Gold ( a few streaks to go with the Auburn stain) Carrera Marble Venatino Marble Here is a link that might be useful: Why NOT do Marble?

Tina, I bet you all can get the tile a lot cheaper than we can! The company is wonderful, they sent me a lot of free samples so I could choose my colors. We also have it in the entry way. We just love it! Marrilyn, I think we added about 650 sq. feet, which is the new room only. After being cramped in that tiny LR, we wanted SPACE, even though it's just my dh and myself now. lol. Here's the before picture I took at the end of last summer when I knew it would be "demolished." The wonderful memories of two little boys frolicking in the front yard makes me cry. :( From where I'm standing taking the picture, between me and the old house is the new room. Before: After, another picture below: Left side of porch, we added some rock to it that we used on our FP. Right side, still no porch furniture. :( Here's a picture taken a couple of months ago at the beginning of my "cottage garden" which is an interesting experiment. lol.

Epressler - all I did to figure out which hardwood to get was learn which floors were the hardest (on the Janka scale), decide which colors I liked best, and then ask the owner of the hardwood store which brand he loved the best. He said that all the installers LOVE Owens Flooring, and it has a really thick face to it, so it can be re-sanded three times. It was a good choice, because out of 24 boxes, only two smallish pieces were not straight. Anyway, you asked about how many samples I looked at to get the right color - just two. Brazilian cherry has so many colors to it anyway, that the samples you get may be vastly different than what will be in the boxes. It's hard to believe that one type of tree can produce all those colors! But my goal wasn't to match the cabs to the floor - it was just how it happened, because I guess I really love that color of wood! Chitown_remodel - here is a picture of the backsplash without flash, and the mother of pearl tile is made by Olympia. Dianalo - your idea is brilliant. That is EXACTLY what we will do. Now here's a question, if you happen to ever read this (or anyone who has an opinion) - we already have a very pretty mirror above the fireplace in the great room. Should we move that to the mudroom and put a painting above the fireplace, or is it OK to have two mirrors? Msmagoo - I designed the kitchen myself, and I was helped out quite a bit because I used ideas I learned here on the kitchen forum. For instance, we have a cell phone charging drawer. It's nothing fancy, but it wouldn't have occurred to make one - I read about them on this forum. My ceilings are eight feet... and you might get sick if I told you how much we spent. I will say that I got great prices on the appliances and wood floor, and fair prices on other stuff. Here is a link that might be useful: Olympia's Boutique Collection, which includes the Mother of Pearl tile I used