Steve..if this is common for you on your clematis..It is most probably what is termed "Brown legs"..this is common for some clematis to do this...usually more towards summertime..as they soil drys out and the leaves lose their moisture from not enough watering...remember to keep your clematis roots moist...also planting something that grows low with uninvasive roots will hide this ..I like planting Vinca's,Daylilies,Blue Daze or Begonias in front of mine...Jeanne

I agree with Mike. Fungus gnats are attracted to peaty, organic mixes that hold a lot of moisture. The immediate solution is to use Bt, a safe, organic bacterial insecticide that kills their larva in your soil. You can use something like Gnatrol or even mosquito dunks soaked in water to drench the soil a couple times and they will be gone. You should know that they don't really cause serious problems for adult plants, but they are a sign that your soil is not the best. So, the long term solution is to repot your citrus into a container mix that doesn't provide the environment they love. Many people here, including me, like a bark-based soil. You could wait to do that until spring, but start allowing the soil to dry out more -- at least in the top couple inches -- between watering. Use a chemical fertilizer instead of organic amendments, since those attract fungus gnats too. Otherwise, it sounds like both of your plants are doing much better since you increased the light. I keep my key lime under lights 16 hours a day. More hours of light might help your plants. I wouldn't worry about the Meyer lemon producing flowers first. It's alive, if under stress, and will grow leaves soon if it's happy.

(This might be crazy but ...) When I think of modern exteriors, I think of unexpected rooflines. Remember the deconstructed farm house in Beetlejuice? With this, I would build a bronze color metal pergola-ish slatted shade thing right over the middle section of the house, following the roof pitch. It would lend height and presence, and reduce a/c, and add a modern touch. Maybe three feet above the roof, and extend out over the yard. You could echo it somewhat with an awning over the front window. The lawn is a little old fashioned, but the tree is so nice. How about this - put a few square concrete pavers against the house, with an irregular outline, sometimes two thick, sometimes one, sometimes three or four. Use a few different sizes, but multiples so they make a strict grid. Make the edge zigzag. Then outline the edge with a stripe of black pebbles, before the grass. Then on the patio wall, echo the zigzag shape with tiles attached to the stucco.

Oh, sorry, Marcolo, I thought you'd seen my table before. There's no leg. Just a couple of strong folding brackets. It is supposed to be able to support more than a hundred pounds of pressure or something. I can't remember for sure, but my cabinetmaker said I could roll dough (i.e., lean hard) on it if I wanted (I'd rather not for other reasons, but I could). I don't know if this is a good application for stone, but you could easily do the counter extension from wood, metal wrapped wood, or even formica if that suits. This plan does give up a little storage by the sink, and keeping the sink centered on the window requires either the smaller DW or a blind corner, but you gain all the pantry space above and below the oven, as well as where the old oven was. By not remodelling the structure you also gain money to put into better slimmer appliances. I have a new full sized DW, but I swear it doesn't actually fit that many dishes because of the way it's laid out and how it works. An 18" Miele might hold just as much or more. I didn't want to get into details in putting this sketch in, since they can get in the way of imagination. One thing you can do to maximize storage is to have a run of short upper uppers that go round the room, with some decorative brackets or corbels to "support" the places where there aren't wall cabinets under. You could have the hood over the window go up just to the cabinet as its support as well. On the wall where the table is pictured, you could put art, beadboard, shelves/cupboard above head height, or even standard uppers if you don't want to be sitting back to the wall. The kind of table I've shown doesn't even need the castors unless you want it topped with stone to match counters. It should be light enough to just lift. Though the castors allow you to move it while lunch is already set out. Here is the picture of the table side of my island. The stone overhangs the table by 6". When the table is folded flat it's entirely underneath the overhang. I think it's about 3" thick folded. No more than 4". You can just see the bottom of the bracket on the right side, against the side of the island. These brackets do have a diagonal brace. I can find out more about the hardware and take a picture of the underside if you're interested.