Bunnygirl is right on the mark. When transplanting any succulent, let the roots/cut stem dry in the air for a few days so that any small injuries harden to prevent fungal infection. Plant in dry soil and do not "water in". Soil should be at least 50% inorganic materials like pumice, perlite, gravel, etc. Do not use sand. Peat retains too much water and should be avoided like the plague! Commercial potting mixes (including those labeled Cactus and Succulent) have too much peat. My basic mix is about 75% pumice. It looks like they are all are infected by fungus, and will certainly die without intervention. The translucent color is a very bad sign. Pull them up immediately and inspect the roots and lower stem. If they are falling apart, and the stem is dark and soft, the only cure is to cut the stem above the rot. This may not be possible for the pups, as I suspect the leaves will fall off the stem leaving nothing to grow, but the parent plant may still be salvageable. After transecting the stem above the rot, let it dry out in the air for three days or more to callous. Then place in DRY soil. You may need to prop up the plant. Do not water until the plant has started to grow new roots, this will take some time (weeks). During this time, water in the lower leaves will be resorbed by the plant. This is natural. Succulents usually have sufficient water reserves to last for months without any water at all. When you see signs of new growth, start watering. Let the soil dry out completely between watering. There is no proper schedule, everything depends too much on your local conditions (heat/humidity/season/latitude/soil composition/etc). The basic rule is: If in Doubt, Don't! This axiom is true for any action, watering, transplanting, fertilizing, etc. Succulents thrive on neglect. The ideal cultural practice is called Benign Neglect. In your case, there is no doubt that intervention is necessary to save your plants. For more aloe care advice, read the Aloe FAQ page here on the site. Good luck! Brad

White Spruce Picea glauca. Useful pointers: White Spruce needles are longer; Black Spruce Picea mariana needles are shorter White Spruce needles are ± the same colour on all sides; Black Spruce needles are conspicuously more glaucous below than above. White Spruce shoots are (in your area) hairless and pale brown to whitish; Black Spruce shoots are hairy, and dark orange-brown on mature shoots. White Spruce cones are slender, with soft scales; Black Spruce cones are broad, with stiff scales. Resin

Thanks for pointing out the missing aisle dimensions. I'll add them to the floor plan view. These are cabinet to cabinet - we are planning on 3/4" - 1" overhang Range wall to island - 52" Peninsula to island - 40" Both sides of island - 42" When I was taking those measurements I realized that I forgot to mention the current drawing shows the range wall lowers pulled out 3". The range will probably be the CC which is 25" to the back of the door and 27 3/8 to the front. Are there any heat issues if the cabinets come out past the door gasket? If we end up going this route I would rather see deeper cabinets and drawers rather than just pulling them out. It might be better to leave them at 24" deep and against the wall and gain 3" of cabinets on the sink and refrigerator walls. The island will probably be used for serving and sometimes prep when multiple people are using the kitchen. We have never had an island so we aren't sure how it will get used. We currently have a single slide-in 30" range with a OTR microwave and countertop toaster oven. When we entertain oven space is always an issue. Maybe we are overcorrecting with too many ovens. Another option we have considered is the range,steam and speed oven and maybe a warming drawer. With this option we would only need a 24" cabinet and gain 6" of space. I have read a lot of posts about blind corners and still don't know what is best for us. The layout shows 2 lazy susans and a LeMans style pullout at the peninsula. The peninsula might be a good spot to close in the corner and have access from the other side. We could use this to store infrequently used items. Thanks

In case you're wondering, Yuzu can survive a cold winter in the Seattle area unprotected, but suffers some damage. The tree will be able to keep some of its leaves, maybe about half, depending on if it is located in a warm spot. It won't start growing until about the very end of May. Seattle is pretty far north in latitude but only zone 8a, so the winter temperatures don't get too extremely cold, though the winters are long (almost feels like half the year). My little Yuzu tree was completely blanketed in snow. A Yuzu-Clementine hybrid managed to survive but suffered some substantial damage and has still not managed to leaf out. It only managed to send out a tiny little single deformed leaflet after July 4, which doesn't look very well right now. The parts of the little tree which are not dead and grey have now turned a healthy live green color, it's just no leaves.