Hi Cath, Yep, primula do need rotating around and, like many plants, will not tolerate being planted in the same place (wallflowers are notorious for this). However, they are really easily to divide - I split a pot of auriculas (somewhat brutally) last year into 37 offsets -I have not yet decided what to do with 37 identical pots of auriculas apart from using them as some sort of edging. The common primrose really needs to be divided every 3-4 years as they do eventually get really congested. Sowing from seed is easy when the seeds are fresh and green - they will germinate within a couple of weeks. Once the seed has dried out and gone into dormancy, it can be a different ballgame indeed, requiring exact conditions of chilling and warming to germinate.....and the some of the asian primroses such as P.secundiflora are really tricksy. Still, as one of the most desired harbingers of spring, we must have them. The scent of a posy of freshly picked primroses wins over any rose, in my book. Many times over the long and dreary winter, the occasional sniff of a single fugitive auricula was the only thing which kept my spirit intact. Yeah, Stopshops, once the plants start to become an onerous duty instead of a reviving pleasure, it is also time to re-examine our priorities. One of my poorer decisions was to give up social work in order to become a full-time gardener - I very nearly lost the thing I loved and rapidly parlayed my energy into the more lucrative task of landscaping: although I didn't exactly leap for joy while humping yet another load of sand into the cement-mixer, I never had to gnash my teeth in rage at yet another insane demand for tropical planting themes - in cold wet Blighty!

I was in a car with a friend when a bee (or wasp, I never actually saw it) flew in the window, up the leg of his (baggy) shorts and stung him in those tender man-parts....but guess who was shrieking and hyperventilating by the side of the road? And even when his knackers swelled to grapefruit size, I was still making far more fuss. Still, it is quite true - help is possible (although I tell ya, the therapy lark was a dismal fail for me)......gardening though...... Out of the blue, my daughter (the same bee-stung one - she still loves me) cleared up our naked, muddy puppy ridden yard one day (we had many lurchers) and, in celebration we planted a lavatera. Obviously, as all gardeners know and I had yet to find out, lavatera grows like the clappers....but still, I thought I was a tremendous success (although was, at that point, less amused with the delighted bees)....and obviously had green fingers. Next plant - a japanese anemone - again, by sheer luck (I liked the name) I picked another winner....and an obsession was born. A totally overwhelming desitre to get to know plants (I enrolled for horticulture college quicksmart - 4 years!). Now seeing bees going about their business, on our plants (where they vastly prefer to hang out rather than on our arms and legs), over the last decade, has undeniably got a whole lot easier (although I am, of course, watching at a respectable distance and making sure I have a clear exit).........and as an avid fruit grower, I certainly have a vested interest in their continued health and survival - see what I mean about cancelling each other out....because whilst I fear these creatures, I also admire and depend on them so could not countenance spraying (although I have not the slightest compunction about spraying nettles out of all existence with some lethal broadleaf killer agent orange napalm death........) So while I never expect to get up close and personal to a bee, the sheer number of times I encounter them really does diminish that visceral anxiety because a lot of the time, I am tortured by anticipation and imagination.....actually being near but feeling safe has been the best therapy I have ever done.....so first of all, get involved in the garden.....might be what you need to break the cycle (yeah, I know all that facing one's fear blah blah......but it works if the rewards (a really great hobby and being able to be outside in the garden) are enough to make the effort.

Yep, birds and berries - always a risk...but I eat them too - there are few berries, heps and haws that have not found their way into various jams. jellies, chutneys and preserves - have been known to munch happily on fuschia and was thrilled when the rampant iochroma produced rather choice fruits. I discovered the joys of chokeberries, juneberries, saskatoons etc a few years ago and literally grew up on rosehip syrup and have been doing serious research into rubus varieties (so many...and often extremely beautiful too. Bearing in mind the paucity of UK natives (being an island under successive glaciations) the general horticultural thrust in Britain has been predicated on our imperial adventures and planthunting past...plus a very, very different attitude towards invasives, so yeah, I do chuck a lot of plant names about but compared to my recent past, I have become the soul of rectitude and responsibility...at least here in the woods (on the allotment, anything goes). Consider, for example, there are only 21 native species of tree...and a third of them are compromised by disease threats or utterly unsuitable to my soil...so I would say we are pretty much on the same page when it comes to increasing diversity - especially pertinent on a monoculture plantation such as mine. Every single inch of the UK has been managed, altered, refined by humans - there is NO virgin or unmanaged land anywhere at all so our invasive list has been steady at around 13 species for decades (I especially enjoy enraging US people by the deliberate planting of buckthorn - a good bird cover and hedge constituent). Also, it is fair to say, my little 5.5 acres can easily withstand the planting of risky species since I am marooned in the midst of agricultural Norfolk flatlands and watermeadows - the biggest environmental threat comes from herbicide run off and unmanaged ditches incubating Himalayan balsam Japanese saws - what can I say except wow. I was introduced to pullsaws years and years ago and have been a convert ever since, particularly given my puny upper body strength, it is much, much easier on the pull than on the push, to cut through tough woody growth...and when that growth is damp and fibrous, even more so. Another massive plus for hand saws is their repairability. I had a very salutary lesson this summer when an idiot friend decided to strim one of the rides in my absence...resulting in the destruction of $800 worth of Stihl brushcutter. The repairs cost me another $550!...and because it was a fuel mix issue, it was not even under warranty (teethgnashing). And nothing is more attractive to thieves than those orange Husky or Stihl power tools - I know of not a single arbourist who has not been robbed, persistently (including us)...yet nobody glances twice at my collection of pullsaws. True, the pole is the least of it and you could almost certainly fasten a decent blade to any lightweight length of pole (although I am seriously struggling with anything over 13feet). Oh yeah, reminds me - those ipomopsis I planted most certainly thrived - must have transplanted them quickly enough to develop taproots in situ...but I have already collected this seasons seed (weird looking stuff or what) from the allotment plantings and sown a whole heap with anomatheles lessoniana (pheasant grass). I also did some trades for the aristolochia fimbriata....

Island Depth When calculating island depths with seats, don't forget the counter overhang in front of the cabinets (non-seat side) - usually 1.5"- and the thickness of an installed decorative door or end panel on the back of the cabinets (the seating side) - usually 1". If you have cabinets on both sides (so doors open into the seats, then that 1" is for the cabinet doors. So: 1.5" counter overhang in front of the island 24" depth for each standard base cabinet -or- whatever depth you're using (some people have 24" for the front cabinets and then only 12" or 15" for the cabinets on the back that open into the seats) 1" for door or decorative door/end panel 15" overhang (counter height) With just one set of cabinets, the minimum depth of the island is 41.5" 1.5" + 24" + 1" + 15" = 41.5" ======================== Island Length For island length - you need at least 24" per seat. Edited to add: As FunkyCamper points out in a later post, this is the minimum width per seat. There have been some rumblings about an update of the recommendation to 30" per seat, but as far as I know, that hasn't happened yet. With 5 growing children, I suspect 30" wouldn't be a bad idea - it will help minimize arguing about "s/he's in my space" or "s/he is touching me". In addition, if your children are taller/bigger than average, the extra space would be nice once they hit the teens. If you have seating on two sides, remember that two seats cannot share the same knee/leg space in the corners! For an island that seats 5 to 7, I strongly recommend seating on at least 2 sides, 3 would be even better! You don't want to have all 7 (or even 5) seats sitting like ducks in a row. Straight-line seating for more than 2 or 3 seats is not very conducive to conversation and bonding - it's more like dining with strangers in a diner. ======================== Aisle Widths On the working side: One-person...You need a 42-inch aisle if only one person will ever be working on the aisle (I assume that will not be the case with such a large family - some children will be helping out/learning to help out) Two or more people working on the aisle (most likely scenario in this case)...You need a 48-inch aisle Aisle behind the seats - depends on what else is behind the seats With a wall or other obstruction behind the seats: If no cabinets, counters, appliances, and no traffic at all (i.e., "dead end"), then 44" is sufficient If no cabinets counters, appliances, and minimal traffic, then 48" is sufficient If no cabinets counters, appliances, and normal to heavy traffic, then 54" is sufficient If cabinets counters, appliances, etc., are behind the seats, then 60" No wall or other obstruction directly behind the seats - the "open" concept your friend is planning: If island backs to a sofa or similar - then no less than 48" if there is minimal traffic (i.e., a "dead end") or 54" if there is normal to heavy traffic. If island backs to a table - then 60" b/w the island and the table .