Recently when working with a client, I realized I was bringing up terms she was not familiar with. Unfortunately, having been a designer for more than 25 years, I use some terms without thinking. So whether you’re working with an interior designer or shopping on your own, it wouldn’t hurt to know some of our “Designer EZ.”
Q: I planted three yellow Lady Banks roses on my south wall when I moved here 10 years ago. Two years ago, my neighbor planted a white Lady Banks rose nearby. This year I noticed white roses growing on my yellow Lady Banks rose. I thought these flowers might be from their plant, but I traced it back to the base of my vine. Will my yellow roses eventually all be transformed to white? How do you explain this botanically?
In Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” sleep is referred to as “chief nourisher in life’s feast,” and in “Henry IV,” Shakespeare called it “nature’s soft nurse.”
Q: We are remodeling our bathroom and would like to install a new countertop on our vanity. We are buying a new drop-in sink and would like to buy a laminate countertop to go with it. We need a simple rectangular top with no cuts for a small vanity. We have seen these in home centers and were wondering how difficult it would be to install.
Q: I can never find Cercis occidentalis, western redbud, at local nurseries. Any idea where I can locate it?
A swarm of ladies will paint the town red this weekend.
When is it OK to “trend-follow” interior design concepts? Is anything truly timeless? Where should you look for inspiration if you’re building new?
This cool, wet spring was perfect for some early insect and disease problems to appear, namely aphids and powdery mildew. Roses and plants in the rose family, like many of our fruit trees, were rapidly hard hit because of cool, wet spring weather. This will get worse.
“The extent and condition of our property, and our choice of style in dwelling, create a powerful emblem of our identity and status.” — Deborah Tall (1951-2006), American writer and poet, “Dwelling,” “From Where We Stand” (1993)
Q: We have several squeaky floors throughout our house, along with a stair step that squeaks. Anyway, we are getting new carpet and thought that now is the time to get rid of the noise. How should we approach this job?
Q: Is it too late to prune? We have artificial turf around the tree, but the borders are open for applying fertilizer. Is this good, or should we use fertilizer stakes too?
In the early 2000s, granite countertop popularity skyrocketed, replacing longtime tile tops in kitchens whose owners battled broken tiles and stained grout. The durability and ease of maintenance won customers over, and they were willing to pay a premium for the convenience and naturally appealing look.
Cool, rainy weather when pear and apple are in bloom is perfect weather for fireblight disease. Fireblight is a very aggressive and dangerous plant disease that shows up as new infections in about May in Asian pear, European pear such as Bartlett and some apples. It can be a major problem on quince too.
Dear Gail: I have a wood stained front door, which has taken a bit of a beating from the heat. I thought about having it refinished, but I’m really looking for a change. So I want to paint it a fun color. I have no idea where to start. Any advice would be appreciated. — Claire
