I would hold off on the banana.....tender perennial there. I just planted a Desert Willow and it was an iffy decision. If we have a hard winter with low temps I may lose it. Depends on the tree really, tropicals like banana I would wait until spring. Doc, I don't know where the university area is in Tucson but there are two nurseries there that I like. Mesquite Valley Growers - Speedway and Pantano and Desert Survivors on Starr Pass near I-10. Desert Survivors is run by disabled vets who start lots of native trees, bushes, plants. Mesquite Valley is very upscale. If you want cactus plants you cannot miss with Bach's Cactus Nursery, Thornydale north of Cortaro Farms. HTH.

Hi Justin, Welcome to Charlotte. You should come to our garden club, Eveningshade Garden Club. It meets on the 2nd Tuesday of the month in Huntersville at 7:30. Most of us are transplants to Charlotte so could help you a lot. Farmhouse Nursery in statesville has a lot of unusual perennials. Garden Grove and Dearness Gardens are both in Huntersville on Old Statesville Rd. Both are good. For pond plants and daylilies you need to check out Betty Brown in Davidson. She is a private residence but she has several acres and sells pond plants and daylilies very reasonably. She has a wonderful selection of plants. Send me an email if you are interested.

Nice view! I agree with you regarding pantry cabinets - if they're wider than 18", they're the most expensive and least efficient type of pantry. (Pantry cabinets are always more expensive - regardless of width.) The most efficient, most usable, and least expensive pantry is a built-in pantry - whether it's a reach-in, step-in, or walk-in. Built-in pantries: Allow you to utilize the entire space - floor to ceiling (no toe-kick, crown molding, limited cabinet height, cabinet walls, or drawers to rob you of space) Allow you to see everything with a single glance (no opening/closing doors/drawers looking for something) Provide storage in which nothing gets lost. 12-inch deep shelves seems to be the "sweet spot" regarding pantry shelf depth. Most small appliances and most food containers (Tupperware-type or store boxes/bags) fit. You can line up cans 3 or 4 deep, depending on the size of the cans. With only 12" of depth, things don't disappear in a black hole in the back. Are far less expensive than pantry cabinets. Pantry cabinets are one of the most expensive cabinets there are. If you add swing out accessories, they cost even more. Are more flexible - you can use just about any configuration you can think of! If it's a walk-in pantry, you can even put in work counters, if you like. . Pantry in the porch... I like the location you've put it in. You aren't eliminating any of the windows that have a great view. One thing to consider...where will you be bringing in your groceries? How far will you have to carry the bags? If it's that side entry into the porch, then the pantry will be located in a great place - close to grocery drop off as well as close to the Kitchen. I don't think I'd put in a long table + benches. Instead, I would create a comfortable seating area with a comfy chair or two and maybe a side table where you can enjoy the view while drinking a cup to tea or coffee. I think a bench/table would make it too much like yet another Kitchen/Dining Room table. You already have the table and island seating in the Kitchen, so make this a more comfortable area - more like a sitting area! . . Kitchen: I know you didn't ask, but... So, I'm looking at your overall Kitchen layout and I'm confused. Why would your KD put 24" deep cabinets under a seating overhang? They will be very difficult to use, especially accessing the back depths of the cabinets. I would not put anything deeper than 12" to 15" under an overhang if you want to be able to actually use them. In addition, I don't understand why your KD didn't at least put a cabinet facing out on the non-seating side for much better access. It makes little sense how it's designed right now. (It would be a 24" x 24" cabinet facing the cooktop wall. It would then reduce that 42" wide cabinet to 18" -or- combine it with the other 42" cabinet for 60" and split it into two 30" cabinets.) Your aisles are tight - they appear to be around 39" b/w the cooktop wall & the island and 40" or so b/w the sink & island. The minimum recommended aisle width is 42" for a one-person work aisle (and never more than one person) and 48" for two or more people working on an aisle. In your situation, I think you should have at least 45" and preferably 48". Your sons will be helping out in the Kitchen (cleaning up & prepping/cooking) sooner than you realize! [Note: you have so many lines on your layout that I'm not sure what each line represents. Know that counters stick out past cabinets by 1.5" and that you measure aisle widths counter edge-to-counter edge or to/from the item that sticks out into the aisle the farthest - counter edge, appliance handle, etc.] Your seating overhang should be at least 15" of clear leg/knee space. You may have that, but it's not clear b/c of the lines on the layout. (Also, each seat needs a minimum of 24" of linear space. So, a 72" long island would seat three people. Be careful about the corner - two seats cannot share the same knee/leg space - each seat needs its own free and clear space.) Finally, you don't appear to have much workspace for your Prep Zone - in fact, the workspace is so limited where it's useful that I think this is going to be no more than a one-person Kitchen and prepping is going to be a challenge. When your boys are old enough to start helping, it's going to be even tougher. A Prep Zone needs water - it's a key item in any Prep Zone. The only water you have in your Kitchen is the cleanup sink - and there's not nearly enough space b/w the cleanup sink and the cooktop for an adequate Prep Zone! The bare minimum workspace in a Prep Zone is 36" of straight counter space, with 42" or more far better. If you plan to use the island for prepping, then I strongly recommend adding a prep sink and turning the island 90 degrees so the long side faces the cooktop - not the cleanup sink. You want to prep in front of the range, not in front of the cleanup sink and a potentially open DW. (Actually, with the 40-inch or so aisle you have, no one will be able to work at the island if someone is working at the cleanup sink or using the DW to load/unload dishes. You need at least 48" and 54" would be better b/c of the DW.) Here's a quick description of what I would do if it were my Kitchen: (1) Switch the sink run and cooktop run. This would put the cleanup sink and dish storage closer to the table and will help keep someone setting the table out of the Prep and Cooking Zones. (No, a cleanup sink does not have to be under the window - that's an old paradigm from before there were DWs. We now spend far, far less time cleaning up than we used to - and most of the cleanup isn't even done in front of the sink!) Kitchen work studies show: 70% or more time spent in the Kitchen is spent preparing a meal or snack 20% or less is spent cleaning up - and that includes not just sink work (hand washing a few items), but also non-sink work such as loading the DW (if you don't pre-rinse your dishes), unloading the DW, clearing the counters & table, wiping down the counters & table, and sweeping up at the end of the day. 10% is spent cooking - stirring, adding ingredients, watching food cook Based on the above, it makes the most sense to have the Prep Zone in the best spot - whether for the view or for visiting, whichever you prefer - and the Cleanup Zone in the less desirable spot. (2) Increase the depth of the new sink counters & cabinets by 3". (3) Leave the island in the current orientation but reduce its size. I would only put in 12" deep cabinets under the seating overhang, if even that. (4) Add a prep sink to the island

Gas lights were big because they had to be. We have electricity now and don't need those large over sized lights anymore. The front door should be the star of the house, not some huge light fixture that is off most of the time. Sure it should look nice and match the style of the house, but not over power . It is only an accessory. Cabins or log homes originally had no lights. Certainly not gas light. Gas lights were mostly used in the cities. Cabins and log homes were in rural areas. Only when electricity came to the rural areas did cabins and log homes have outdoor lights. More often than not there was only one small light outside the front door. There is still rural areas with only electricity and no gas lines.