The trees will be bare root. Plant them as soon as you can dig into the soil. In the mean time heel them in to keep their roots moist. As for the plants that will come green, I'd wait until either last frost date in the area (which may be too late) or past likely frost date and protect them if any more frosts come your way. Temporarily bury them in straw or even snow if need be to protect them from a hard frost (>4 hours below 30F, which may include wind chill). All of them will grow up from their roots (rhizome) if you keep them alive.

Thanks so much for all your helpful responses! I knew it was a good choice to ask here. This espaliering idea sounds very enticing =] I've never heard of it, I'll be sure to read up about it. I really like persimmons and would love to have one, but thought there was no way I would have room for one. Is any particular type of rootstock required for it (semi-dwarf or dwarf), or is a regular tree fine for the purpose? I am attaching an aerial view of my house, right side is North (amazing what the internet gives you these days): 1. Location of presumed apricot tree. 2. Now I am thinking of planting the Red Baron peach in this location to give it some breathing room. I think it would look more aesthetic a little removed from the apricot. What are your ideas? About 6 feet to the right is a flower bed directly next to the wall and I was thinking of also planting a Washington Navel semi-dwarf or dwarf there. But maybe that would be a good location for the espaliered persimmon instead. 3. I was thinking of planting a kumquat in this patch, do you think it would be a good idea? Backyardener, in those pictures the backyard indeed looks dim and wet, but during the day the side depicted gets a lot of sun and is quite bright, and then lawn had just been watered hence the wetness. I'm hoping I'll be able to pull of some of these trees (fingers crossed). Do you think it's possible to prune that old unruly grapevine all the way down to the trunk and re-train it? I'll take your advice and probably use a 4-arm Kniffin training. mudflapper, thanks for the blueberry tips. I'm a little discouraged that they won't have optimal conditions since they seem to be picky plants, but after paying $40 for both of them I'm damn well gonna try getting them to grow. glenn_russel, some really great ideas, I was thinking about raised beds too. I'll have to see just how and where I could implement them. ashleysf, wooooow that is impressive. 25 types of fruit! Thanks for the link, some really interesting ideas on that website with planting four trees in the same area and keeping them trimmed to a manageable size. tagtail, thanks a lot for the fruit tree list! I like the Fuyu persimmon choice, always ended up eating the Hachiya ones early and getting that nasty astringent throat. I'm impressed you were able to tell I have a fig tree in the background. When we first got the house I actually thought it was a guava for a while until I googled some pictures =) So you would pick espaliered fruit trees over grapes? I'm definitely excited about the idea and would like to try it on at least one tree, but I also don't really want to throw all five of my grapes away. Maybe I'll mix and match. How young of a tree should I get for espaliering? I'm guessing rootstock is preferable? Up till now I have been buying potted containers.

find another... somewhere in the yard ... as when a bird plants one.. there are usually many more ... and then kill this one ... its a very dirty tree.. and you do NOT want it where it is ... my kids.. with their purple stained feet.. ruined a couple door mats ... not to mention.. it has the potential to be a huge tree ... and with deep red berries.. will come.. purple bird poop [nothing like stained siding] ... and all the cement work will be stained purple ... what a nightmare... [yes.. i suppose they might be white.. and not as staining.. but they will still make a fermenting nauseating mess in august or so when it gets large ] there is nothing good to say about this tree ..... especially based on your vast front yard ... my tree.. on my 5 acres.. is at least 40 feet tall.. and 30 wide ... you simply dont have room for it ... ken

About berries... here are a couple web sites that will give you tons of valuable information from OSU and U of Arkansas. Just copy and paste. http://www.aragriculture.org/horticulture/fruits_nuts/default.htm http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/ApplySimpleSearch Below are a couple berry farms in Arkansas that ship bare root plants. Give them a call with any questions you might have. They will be shipping blackberry plants within the next few weeks after the first good frost. I just placed an order for Ouachita blackberries and some Wye berries (blackberry/raspberry cross similar to Tay or Loganberries but hardy for this area and supposedly much more productive). http://www.alcasoft.com/pense/index.html http://www.alcasoft.com/pense/index.html