Sure I will trade. I will fill a 1lb priority box full of white and purple violets and send out some time early next week. We are expecting several days of rain here and I will not be able to dig and send them until the first day after the rains. Please email me your address and I will be sure to send them as soon as possible. In return I am interested in your named b. irises, daisy, and cannas. I would appreciate it if you would fill a priority box for me as well. I will email my addy to you. THanks! Jess

Normally the first year a tree is planted, most of the work is going on underground. As long as it lived and stayed green you should be happy. This year it should put on some more growth and the third year it should really leap. I'm no help w/ the second question. I remove mine after the first year, but I guess it depends on the situation.

The reason they sprinkle olive oil is that olive oil has a very low smoke point and will "brown" the veggies better than other oils in the broiler. You need to oil the veggies in the broiler otherwise they just shrivel and dry out. If you use other oils they don't brown and just get greasy. The low smoke point is the reason you cannot use olive oil in a deep fryer. When using a wok, peanut oil is one of the best as it has a high smoke point and gives a nice flavor to veggies. If you want veggies to brown in the broiler spray some sugar water on them. The sugar browns them nicely in the broiler but be careful not to leave them in too long and burn them. Sugar will caramelize at 275° . And do not ever try to splash wine or brandy on veggies in the broiler or you risk starting a fire as the alcohol will ignite into flames. Wine or brandy is a nice touch when sauteing and/or degazing though.

Thinking on this but my first thought is not to do black cabinets. And, don't worry about "floor fatigue" so much. It's not like you'll be standing for hours in a kitchen like a restaurant chef. I have porcelain wood look tile and I don't notice the "fatigue" of a hard floor. It always looks best to have the flooring the same throughout so nix the idea of changing the flooring from the living space/kitchen space. The floor plan you show is too small to see details. I'm thinking if you are going concrete floor, mix the cabinets with natural wood look and a light counter...maybe a white quartz.