I have both Goldflame honeysuckle as well as Major Wheeler's and out of the 6 plants that I have, only ONE of the Goldflame has only a couple of blooms on it. I just planted them all in pots w/trellises this spring. They get mostly sun and some shade, but all are covering the trellises, but no blooms! The Goldflame that is not blooming looks VERY healthy...thick stems and lots of big leaves. No blooms! ;-( Why? Can someone help? Want them to bloom for the hummers that are visiting my yard. Any suggestions would be helpful. I've never grown honeysuckle so not sure what's going on.

I also think a peninsula is the best choice. It should go here: You could keep the sink and stove and fridge where they are with a peninsula there, but I'd actually make the peninsula 30-36" deep and put the sink and dishwasher in the peninsula. This has a few benefits over leaving the sink under the window: 1) The most convenient place to have your main prep counter is between the sink and the stove. This is because you have access to both the sink and stove from the same stretch counter, which means you can wash, peel, chop, mix, and cook everything all while standing in the basically the same spot. The less you move around while cooking, the more efficient, and the less likely that anybody else will be in your way. If you put your sink on the peninsula, it would give you a nice long counter between the sink and stove. A counter with a view outside, no less. 2) If you don't move the sink, the peninsula counter to the left of the sink won't be used very much. It will always be more convenient to work between the sink and stove. However, if you have the sink and dishwasher on the peninsula, you will definitely be using the peninsula to do dishes and wash things. This means you'll actually get to enjoy the fact that working at the peninsula would mean you'd be facing the breakfast nook and the family room. 3) If the dishwasher is on the peninsula, it should be to the left of the sink (so that it's not between the sink and range where opening a DW would interrupt cooking/prepping activities). This means that the cabinetry on the wall with the fridge is ideally suited for dish storage, since you'd be able to unload the dishwasher directly into it that cabinetry. However, I can see why you'd be, like, "To hell with that. We don't mind this layout we already have, and I don't see the point of doing anything that is more bother than this layout if we don't hate this one." But as buehl said above, it is often the case that we just get used to things. People are used to a kitchen, and they don't realize how bad/frustrating it was till they work in a better kitchen, after which they could never go back. So what I would suggest is a free trial of a better kitchen. Since you were planning on tearing out your cabinets, why not tear out just the island first? Leave everything else in the kitchen as-is, but remove the island and mock up a peninsula with furniture or boxes or perhaps using parts of the island that you just took out. It would be especially great if your mock-up peninsula had a top you could work on to really see how you'd use a counter there. Live with the kitchen like that for, like, a month. Long enough that it stops feeling weird and new. If by the end of that period, you do not think a peninsula is an improvement on your current layout, then by all means, put in a new island.

Hey prairiemoon, you started a food-fight! Fun!! I'll have to try to read through all the comments some day, but the signal-to-noise ratio is not so good in this thread. It's interesting to hear about the maple tree roots being so invasive and so bad for gardens. The up-side of maple trees is that their leaves make a hot compost if you rake them and shred them when they first fall from the tree. I'll bet they would be a good thing to till into the surface of the soil in the fall after harvest. Don't deep-till, just stir them into the surface. Interesting soil analysis. High levels of sulfur will inhibit the growth of mycorrhizal fungi. Magnesium is also high, so I wonder if someone applied gypsum to the soil. Personally, I don't think I would do that. In fact, I don't think your soil really needs anything to improve fertility. Because your organic matter levels are so high, I wouldn't worry about the remarks about phosphorous and potassium being high. I no longer till compost or organic matter into the soil. It stays on the surface. As it breaks down into its final form - humic and fulvic acids - those (mild) acids are absorbed by the clay fraction of the soil, causing the soil to transform. The roots of plants grow just beneath the surface of the soil where the 'organic horizon' provides most of the needed nutrients. The idea of using shredded leaves as a surface mulch for the earthworms is a good one. As you already know, they will come to the surface to pull them down. I'm thinking that a periodic application of shredded leaves through the winter and into spring would be a very good thing for lawns and gardens. I can report that leaving a layer of shredded oak leaves under an oak tree did good things for both the tree and the grass under the tree; greener grass and fuller, healthier looking foliage on the tree. I didn't see if you make your own compost. I make compost and my rookie mistake was applying it when it was not finished. I've also seen fresh wood bark and wood chip mulch stun plants. Just FYI. Paul

This isn't really the appropriate forum for this question. It is not very busy and it is intended for questions about gardening for people with physical limitations. Try the Vines Forum or the Perennials Forum. A photo of the plant will help people to help you since it isn't quite clear what plant we're talking about. I don't really understand your point about coral and fuchsia.