You're welcome! I love clematis, but you should be aware most are deciduous and require substantial pruning in winter. That's just fine in a garden setting where other plants take up the slack and fill the area while they are 'down'. Would that be acceptable on the front of your house? I fear to many people, they would just look 'dead'. They are and can be spectacular, but not as a primary "landscape element" against bare walls. I can't suggest whether the two roses in question would be suitable for your climate as I don't live and garden in your climate. As for whether planting Buff Beauty in a container would work for you, that's also highly climate variable. Most plants grow slower and attain significantly smaller proportions in shorter, cooler growing climates. What would make a suitable container specimen for you, may become a tree eater for me. Mr. Austin provided sizes for his roses in his early catalogs based upon how they performed in HIS climate. Graham Thomas, his "mannerly 5' X 5' shrub", quickly became a 15' house eater here. He was amazed when he visited the first few times and personally witnessed what his roses were capable of in a year round growing season where "winter protection" was primarily keeping them watered when it didn't rain. I did plant Buff Beauty, and several other hybrid musks and Cl. HTs in 22" and 24" pots, on obelisks when I worked at the beach. Roses grew more slowly there due to less heat and more fungal and insect issues, and could more easily be maintained as "patio plants" in containers. In my climate, they would very quickly outgrow those arrangements, becoming totally unsuitable very quickly. When statements such as that are made, you have to determine WHERE the statement is valid. It may easily not be where you are. What I can offer is, generally, Buff Beauty is going to perform better (mature, flower and repeat its flowering) in less direct sun and even fewer hours of indirect sun than CP Margareta. Buff Beauty is bred from R. multiflora. CPM probably isn't. The multiflora genes provide the ability to grow, produce food and flower in less light quality and duration than many other rose genes. Multiflora is an understory plant where it needs to be able to germinate, grow, feed itself until it can throw itself through the surrounding tree canopy out into the sun to flower, attract pollinators and reproduce. Buff Beauty is smaller flowered with fewer petals. Generally, smaller flowers with fewer petals require less energy and resources for the plant to generate and open than large blooms with many petals. Generally, smaller flowers of fewer petals can be generated faster, and repeated more quickly than larger, more heavily petaled flowers can. This is not to say CPM won't work for you. It might, depending upon the quality and duration of your sun and heat. But, in general, Buff Beauty may well perform better, providing more color, over a longer period if your light and heat aren't up to the threshold CPM may require. Ideally, someone who lives closer to you and who has tried them in conditions similar to yours can provide the definitive answer. Kim

That is upsetting. Do you think this just happened by itself or is it possible someone went in there and something happened. Perhaps someone who works with granite could inspect it and be able to tell if the crack happened due to a defect in the piece versus whatever else could cause a crack. I have heard it is possible for a defect to cause this. Someone who knows granite should be able to tell based on the type of crack. Is the counter top level?

I'm back. Melissa, I hadn't considered soapstone. Is it soft and would it be prone to chipping? Does it need to be sealed? If the answers are no, I'd certainly like to check it out. Oruboris, I googled that pattern and it is lovely. Like cubmaster mentioned, my tile store sells by the box so it might get pricey for this room. But in the not too distant future I hope to retile a very large sunroom and it would be awesome in there. I'm saving the pattern for sure. Diagonal is classic and in the running but cubmaster's idea of brick or running bond sounds interesting. How about any of these options... The tiles I like come in 20 and 13 inch squares and 20x13, 10x13, and 12x18 rectangles. I love the larger format tiles but is the room too small for 20 inch tile? On the short side it would be only 2.5 tiles wide. What do you think of a brick/running bond pattern with the rectangles? Would the 20x13 or 12x18 work or are they too large? I'd run them parallel to the short side. Opinions welcomed. Thanks, Alida

I'm approaching the point where it is time to make the decisions we'll be touching everyday and I'm completely exhausted by searching online. Cherry shaker cabinets and a dark cement Silestone counter. It's a small space and an old house so I want to keep things simple with a nod to vintage (brass that can patina overtime?) - faucet and pulls in brass and wood for the knobs. Any suggestions are more than welcome! I can't afford the $1000 unfinished brass faucets or the $500 brass appliance pull I love. Any suggestions? Has anyone found a good source for moderate priced cabinet hardware? and any thoughts about a good faucet will be great!