My first thought was Mimulus, my second was, no, not quite right. But when I ran what I could see through a key, Mimulus came up. It still doesn't look right, but maybe the leaves I see in the photo aren't the right plant? Here is a link that might be useful:

The fig trees can growth with out problems with a Ph around eight. I thing, that it is a different problem, may be the soil is very dry, may be the soil is not porous, Â

What you want to have priced out is a Single Roll Bartop in a 26" size (comes in 30" also if you're going for deeper counters). Anyone who orders even a couple of laminate countertops and reads the specs should know that, but unfortunately, big boxes don't always have the brightest bulbs. That's a "regular" countertop with only one postformed edge. There is no backsplash, just an unfinished back edge. Because it's postformed, it can come in any of the postformed edges and doesn't have to be a custom edge like the square of bevel---which to confuse you further can also be postformed but are typically field created for a larger profit margin. A post formed edge counter is one "manufactured" by a large distrubutor in a facility with heat and pressure to create a rounded type edge. It's purchased locally in "blanks" to be fabricated by local fabricators. They are the preformed counters you see in most big boxes, but come in many more colors and edges than your typical big box carries. The two big players in the industry are Hartson-Kennedy and and VT Industries. For the Wilsonart product in a special order color (most colors) with no installation, you should be looking at around $8-15 a square foot, depending on which edge you choose. If you have a tricky kitchen, like a U shaped one where the middle needs to fit exactly, or have a drop in range or other specialty cutout or angle, or a bartop peninsula meeting a regular top it's worth it to get the countertops measured and installed by a professional. For most any other type of simple kitchen with maybe a 90° angle or two, DIY makes sense if you can measure accurately.

I had a similar dilemma with my kitchen. Most advised that I go with a large island, I wanted a peninsula with no island or with a small island. While I incorporated much of the advice I received, I opted to go with the peninsula for a couple of key reasons. Given the points your laid out in your intro, these reasons might be helpful to you in your deliberations: - it defined the space between my DR and kitchen. This was difficult for me to explain to people online, but I wanted that definition and I felt the lay out of my house cried out for it. It was difficult to appreciate without actually being in the space. - with a large island in my kitchen my messy clean up run would be visible from the LR. Although my kitchen/DR/LR are semi-open concept, I wanted the best of both worlds by concealing at least part of my kitchen from both the DR table and the LR. Peninsulas have fallen somewhat out of favour I think because many peninsulas in mid century and '80s homes block access to the kitchen, forcing people into a narrow passage to enter the kitchen. I allowed for a wide passage into my kitchen past the peninsula, and the lay out of my house is such that people would have rarely entered the kitchen from the area where the peninsula is regardless. You might want to consider this issue as well. How wide is the aisle at the end of your peninsula in layout 2? I agree that large islands are "in" right now and that may be why many people default to the island option. As for the usefulness of a small island, my temporary island is 48" x 38", it is just about perfect as an unloading zone for my pantry and fridge and for prep across from my hob. My permanent island will probably be about 50" x 36". It is small enough not to be a barrier. Good luck.