Today I was repotting the streps I got from Ebay. One of them is Mysticism (M). It *Does* have a scent-somewhat faint-but sweet and melony. The seller did not describe it as being scented but Dave had it on his list, so I bought it! Dbarron you're absolutely correct, IMHO. Environment seems to have a lot to do with it. My goose egg is less fragrant than M, but it's been under lights for quite a while. I would have thought that more heat would produce higher scent, but perhaps I'm wrong. M has been sitting with the other two from Ebay, on my counter, while trying to bring them round. I've another coming from Gary next week-had two on order, though I can't remember what the first one is. He called last night and is out of King of Kings (which is supposedly scented). Of course since mine is only a sample of two, so we'll see what the next bring. My Beloved isn't blooming right now (one of the Ebay buys), but does have one tiny bud, so maybe we'll get lucky there too! Best, Judy

Hopefully the original poster knows that Ivy is highly invasive in Oregon, in fact I don't even think you can buy it there anymore (as of January 2002). It is hard to describe your shade level from a single picture. The sun moves during the day and you really have to do a 12-16 hour analysis to determine the "hours" of sunlight that each section receives. Six hours is considered full sun for good bloom set. 3-6 hours would be partial shade and less than 3 is probably full shade. You do have to take into consideration the time of day as 6 hours of afternoon sun, for example, is much more stressful than 6 hours in the morning. On a sunny day that someone is home, have them check the area each hour (on the hour might help them remember). Make a note of each spot that is in the sun. Some people say to stick a plastic knife in the ground if the area is sunny. At the end of the day, count up how many hours (or plastic knives) in each area. That is your hours of sun. Rather than use plants to cover the area, how about painted lattice?

Something about your house strikes me as being more important than just a box to live in. Maybe its my intense passion for a historically correct shingle house (that I can't afford), or maybe its the color similarity to Mark Twain's house. Maybe its the rarity of four story homes along with the perfect Queen Anne transitional colonial revival interior. It would break my heart to see the walls of that perfect setting painted white, or, god forbid, with painted woodwork. Here's a thought, since your initial question was about woodwork and wall color. Call in a woodworker who can identify (without a doubt) the wood in your home. What we see as, maybe, insignificant today, was a severely high-end wood of the 19th century (because, for some reason, oak has soared to the top of the wooden trim heap - its not better - just trendy). Once you have your woods correctly ID'd, you may seek out furniture restoration techniques from a woodworker who works in old techniques, like shellac and varnish who can point out how to properly clean or repair the finish. Finish techniques varied baed on the wood type - for instance, mahogany nees its pores filled to gleam while walnut (my personal favorite) takes a finish like no other. Oily or tropical woods like rosewood or teak need very different care than oak or maple. And, please remember, the worst thing you can do - yeah, worse than painting the wood - is to polyurethane it. You cant ever strip that plastic stuff off of wood). For the wall colors, choosing pleasing medium tone neutrals is probably always safe and will look both historical and modern, without being "slavishly" historical (though, if done properly, slavishly historical is ASTOUNDING. Think of colors like saddle tans, soft gold, nearly any shade of "dirty" green-like sage. With natural wood, avoid blues and purples, heavily saturated colors, brights and white (white or very pale colors will make your AMAZING wood look faded, dull and lifeless). If you have the Sherwin Williams color sample book, use the first section of colors after the grays. Those colors almost always look perfect with wood. I have done my whole house in them, so far (got more to do, yet). Check my blog for SW color in use: http://thejoshuashivelyhouse.blogspot.com/ Here is a link that might be useful: Joshua Shively House

No, it's definitely a condo. I'm a lawyer and I did all the paperwork, when friends of mine bought and converted it. Housing was sky high (well, not compared to now:)), and lots of old houses were being converted into condos. You'd get an architect to draw up condo plans, file the paperwork, and voila! All done. You should have seen some of the title messes I dealt with before this became popular. The only common area in our condo is the front hall and porch. Each unit has a separate yard and separate parking spaces. Still, it's a condo. It *does* feel more like a townhome, which is why I asked. Thanks, Dave, for letting me know that lenders are looking for how legal title is held. That's what I figured, and I have been listing it as a condo. I just wasn't sure.