Don't cut them. My raspberries are also leafing out pretty good right now, while the blackberries have just started to send out shoots. I would assume a basic 10-10-10 would work fine, although you might need some micronutrients at some point being grown in a container. I do think that raspberries like soil on the acidic end of things. I doubt, depending on the blackberry, that they will make it outside unprotected in a pot, even the raspberries might be in trouble. I left out strawberries in a pot one winter and they were toast. Think about moving everything into the garage, shed or cover them. I have no idea how well growing berries like this in a pot works, but i have about 5 pots with "Triple Crown" blackberries growing in them this year (potted them up earlier this spring) and plan to see how it works.

Brassias need intermediate growing conditions. With moderate bright light. Miltonia hybrids and Odontoglossum hybrids are cooler growing and like higher humidity. They still need good quality light to grow and bloom well. Most tropical orchids are unhappy below 40 degrees at the lowest. And none of them will tolerate frost or freezing. Only cut off dead and brown roots. Keep an eye on the medium that they are growing in. Many times the stuff is on the verge of going bad. Avoid overwatering especially if the medium is old. But Miltonias and Odonts like to be kept evenly moist.

I quite like my Hope for Humanity, and being a Canadian explorer it should be a good choice for your zone. Mine is about 4-5 feet tall in zone 5 in its fourth year, without much dieback in my zone (and it's tucked into a zone 4 pocket in my yard). You're right that the ultimate height relates to how much you have to chop off from winter kill to some extent, but a well-established rose will grow by the end of the season to the height it wants to be if it's suited to your zone. In other words, even if you have to trim it to almost the ground in early spring, it'll shoot back up in the spring and summer if it's happy (and you don't cut it below the graft, obviously). Don't judge its ultimate height in the first few years as it's getting settled, since the plant is liable to spend more time putting down roots than building height at first. I don't grow Blanc Double de Coubert, but if you know someone in your area that grows it, then that's a likely option for your yard. I had it at a previous house but it didn't like my alkaline soil and faded pretty quickly to rather scruffy used blooms that you have to deadhead frequently to keep the bush looking nice. Peace is a lovely rose, but being a Hybrid Tea it's pretty unlikely to be hardy in zone 3-4 unless you grow it in a pot and bring it into a protected unheated space for the winter. I can get away with leaving my hybrid teas in the ground in zone 5, but much colder than me it isn't really a viable option unless you have a particularly hardy hybrid tea or a protected zone pocket with consistent snow cover. Always worth a try if you're a gambler, but that one's a long shot compared to the others (including Rambling Red) that are more sure bets in your zone. Cynthia

Sorry on the zone thing...farmland south of San Antonio, Tx is our location. Thanks for trying to help and responding so quickly. Tis not cold here...quite the opposite. I've tried sun, half-day sun, semi-shade over the past month (each method about 7-10 days at a time) with no improvement where ever I put them. I think am correctly watering (moist not soaked) and fine-mist spray my fuchsias each morn as it is very dry here. Fertilize once every 7-10 days. This is very frustrating. Should I cut it back hard, bring inside, and hope? Only the top 1/3 of each stem/branch has leaves and blooms and this "strange leaf problem" is continuing to progress upwards to the remaining leaves. :-( On another topic, I recently purchased "diatomaceous earth-organic grade" (dust form) and "beneficial nematodes" (spray into soil form) to help control fleas, June bugs, and other nuisance pests from my yard. When I get ready to use these products, are my fuchsias safe? Can I dust/spray them with these?