This is SO different from last year - I had oaks with 10 inches of tender new growth, American persimmons with 4-6 inches of tender new growth, all my fruit trees had all but finished blooming - many with small fruit already developing. The 4-5 consecutive nights of temps into the low 20s/teens were devastating - I had young grafted pecans, persimmons, and mulberries in the 6-10 ft height range killed back to the ground. Pecans and hickories lost all their leaves. Only two of a dozen or so grafted heartnut varieties were not killed off completely - including a couple that were 10 ft tall - killed back to the black walnut rootstock. Black walnuts and most Asian persimmons were still dormant, and escaped significant damage. This year, pears, peaches, plums and a few early apples are just now in bloom, but pecans and oaks are just entering bud-swell, or early leaf extension. Persimmons and mulberries have not yet broken bud. I'm not overly worried, and I'm not bothering to attempt to cover anything. Extension fruit specialists here are predicting at most a 10% reduction in total crop.

SCG, Different species of Hosta come from different climates and thus are native to different growing seasons. Plantaginea is from Southern China and has a long growing season. That's why it blooms so late in the year (August). Other species or hybrids like Tokudama and Sieboldiana are from colder climates and have shorter growing seasons. They tend to flower earlier (June). Generally speaking you can use flowering time as a guide to how long the native growing season for a Hosta might be. Keep in mind that the flowering time for cultivars will be in between the time of where the species would be. So with Halcyon which is a hybrid of a late flowering species (tardiflora) and an early flowering plant (sieboldiana), it's in the middle of the two. It blooms in late July and August. So if you are going to try to grow a plant under lights in order to extend the season, use a plant that typically has a longer growing season than the one you have in Zone 4. Steve

I went to a local lighting store (where I had previously bought fixtures) and got free help with the design. My kitchen is 9.5 x 13 approx., unlike yours I have cabs down both long sides ( one of those sides is shortened by the doorway to the basement steps) so my light is confined to a smaller footprint. I have 5 LED recess kits, 3 on one side with the main counter and sink, 2 on the basement entry side next to the frig and pantry; each 800 lumens I believe (maybe 900) = 3600-4000 lumens, and even dimmed to 75-80%, I have more than enough light for the counters with upper cabs without turning on the UCLs. I really feel that I didn't need all the undercabinet lights -- I rarely turn them on. I am a bit older and really appreciate good lighting -- I go into the kitchen when I need to see small print well. So it seems to me that for your space around 10,000-12,000 lumens would be a ballpark. I have no idea how the use of track lighting for some of that will effect the dispersal and effectiveness of the light, though.

Sammy is kind of right. I think decor really matters when selecting lighting k values. My one sister has antique furniture and fall colors in her Tudor style home. Daylight bulbs were too bright and too stark for her decor. She used the 2700 k equivalent bulbs. When measured the k value was actually closer to 3000 k. She has some antique fixtures which required the amber Edison bulbs which measured 2200 k. My other sister has white walls, tan furniture, contemporary style and she and I both use the daylight bulbs. She could actually use either with her decor, but prefers the whiter light. It reduces eye fatigue. My colors do not work with yellow light. I have taupe neutrals with a slight purple undertone. Yellow lighting makes it look dirty. My style is MCM / Scandinavian. There really isn't a lot of choice between the 2 except with fixtures with permanent bulbs. Most light fixtures with permanent bulbs are around 3500 k. I think this was a compromise that was done for economy of purpose. They didn't want to sell the same fixture with multiple lighting choices, so they compromised between the two major choices. Then they went about training decorators and lighting people that you want something 4000 k or lower for that perfect balance. I looked at some, but was not sold on replacing the entire fixture if the bulb burned out. I did see one that I was tempted to purchase for over my dining room table, but couldn't get a higher k value and didn't want to have two different color lights. Some people may not mind, but I am rather fussy about my lighting. The bulbs sold commercially as "Daylight" really range in color and are not a true 5000 K. The Cree daylight actually measured closer to 4500 k. They do now sell some smart bulbs where you can select your k value, but I have no idea how well they perform or how close they are to actual k values. To know the actual k values of the bulbs you really need to use a light meter. To be perfectly accurate you should probably use one made specifically for LED bulbs - mine is old, but from my understanding it is the lumens measurement that is not accurate when measuring LED lights. I have not read anywhere that it impacts the k value.