Yes, almost all the American Elms died off in many areas through out the Northeast years ago but there where some that survived. Winged Elm is susceptible to Dutch Elm Disease but there is a chance they are somewhat more resistant to DED than American Elm also the disease did not spread as fast or as much in areas that were not covered in tons elms lined up and down through streets and cities. I'm about 100% sure it is a Elm by the looks. And the bark and leaves look exactly like a Winged Elm. I think Winged Elms can vary in how much they make wings but I'm not total sure. I have a Winged Elm in our woods that you can't see hardly any wings but only few small wings in the high branches are noticeable. But most Winged Elms I see are covered in Wings.

I thought kentia was probably not the right spelling! But even as a kentiana, I'm really not sure about it - I've seen photos for one called wayettii that resemble it more closely. Mine has those black margins and the photos of the kentiana I've seen do not. I have no idea if that is a defining feature or not though! pirate_girl - I bought many of them from Flora Exotica, and several others were given to me by a very generous GWer. I have several others too, but they're all obvious, like kerrii, or identified to my satisfaction. Sandy - I recall you mentioning that you thought the bilobata was cummingiana. I finally got a new charger for my camera (nothing like procrastination!!) so now I'm trying to get a positive ID on it! Someone who was visiting me claimed to have a DS-70 and said that mine wasn't like hers at all, but I figured she probably had the misidentified one - I thought I'd dispel my doubts with some more opinions :-). All the ones you sent are doing great. The bella has five peduncles forming (!!!) - it'll be the first one to bloom! Good to hear the vitellinoides is doing well - mine has put out two new leaves and a vine as well. I guess the others didn't do as well? When some of these ones I have get big enough to cut off a bit, I can certainly send you some of the ones you don't have. I assume that I should have lots of new growth by the end of the summer. Thanks for the finlaysonii confirmation too. BP

My suggestion for putting the prep sink on the island facing the view and putting the clean-up sink/DW on the other island was made just to get the clean-up zone off of the island with the view. You can't leave the DW where it is anyway because it blocks up the path between the eating area and kitchen and you don't have enough room to open the DW door and stand beside/infront of it and to empty it. I'm not sure that you have enough width to have a middle island. You note that you have 36" aisles on either side of the island. Is that 36" cabinet to cabinet or counter to counter? Counter overhang can be anywhere from 3/4" to 1 1/4" so in EACH aisle you could lose 1 1/2" to 2 1/2" of aisleway. A 2' wide island isn't wide enough for a DW and clean-up sink to be placed comfortably. At one spot you also have wall-ovens placed and noted 36" aisle space but did you take into account the space that the oven handles will take. And the amount of space required for you to open the door and stand in front of it to take out your cookie sheet/roasting pan, etc. will be uncomfortably shallow with those measurements. What I see is a problem with aisleways widths making the middle island not feasible. The left hand wall - does that window look out onto anything important and does the size have to stay? What about putting the DW and clean-up sink there instead. Your kitchen is 12' wide so you need 50" for counter space (24" + 1' overhang x 2) plus 42' per aisle (which is comfortable for most people) for a total of 84" for a grand total of 134" of necessary width. You have 120" available - mmmmmm. An island will only work if you get rid of either the top counter run with the stove or the bottom counter run with the range and then you have to find someplace to put that stuff. I'd get rid of the middle island. But JMHO.

Perhaps I should start over with a new post. Maybe I will. But to answer your question Rhome - Here is my existing kitchen and the surrounding rooms. I'll work on drawing a more clear layout on graph paper with all dimensions and dark lines. Basically, the remodel must include a keeping room, island, breakfast room, cubbies (like you'd see in a mudroom), a desk and all the regular appliances. So, what would you do to make this work? Janet, Rhome, Blfenton - I don't bake much but currently this is where I already bake. For the most part, I get everything I need from the fridge before I start. Baking will probably also happen on the island but the cabinets in the corner would "store" the baking stuff. Blfenton - "BK" is supposed to be "Bookcase" but apparently I was tired last night when I added it. I would thinking about doing storage on the back side of the island but am not going to do it. In all honesty, I probably just need to make the addition another foot or two but then it is even longer and puts more distance from the fridge and the existing part of the kitchen. The fridge is where it is so it doesn't block traffic flow and it close to the island, cook area, prep area, k.table and still accessible to "outsiders" not working in the kitchen - but yes, it is VERY far from the other side of the kitchen, dbl ovens especially. But does that matter? Believe it or not, I have thought through a lot of different options (like having the desk in the keeping room but then I can't have cubbies, and it's far from the kitchen table - which I need b/c of little ones) but it is a tricky space - long and narrow. I appreciate all your comments though and certainly need "fresh eyes" to make it the best it can be. Off to prep dinner. I will check back in later tonight after the kids are in bed!