I agree with Denninmi- watering over the summer will be very important, especially for blueberries. I'd suggest using a soaker hose/drip irrigation to take some of the work out of it. As far as a good nursery which ships potted plants, I would suggest Rolling River Nursery. Their prices aren't much higher than bare root, so I've been doing more and more of my buying there (I bought from 9 different nurseries this spring). Berries Unlimited (3 gal blueberry plant is very nice, but very pricey), Backyard Berry Plants, and Whitman Farms are 3 other choices who ship potted berry plants. I don't think any of these sell apples and plumbs though, so Rolling River would be my suggestion for those. It would however limit your rootstock and variety choices a bit.

It depends... on the variety and the condition of the plants. My experience is that most HTs have x number of winters in them. Fall planting makes that x-1. It's usually a small enough number that subtracting 1 matters. I used to feel this way too, until I learned through trial & error exactly how deep to plant the roses. For me, it was visually about 2 inches under, then you have the plant settling (we did at the old house, not as much here). By the time it was covered with mulch, it was a few inches under. My roses ended up own rooting. It took about 3 years for every rose, they would die down, end up with 2 canes sometimes but year 3 they took off. I haven't lost a rose in years. I have a very small garden and would like to get it up and running by early summer. Question is...am i better off buying mature potted plants and heeling (sp?) them in or am i better off getting them in the spring? Also, if i do heel them in is it just a matter of digging a hole that will contain the pot? You're in zone 5, I was in zone 6. We had mild winters the last 2 years while mine were in pots (dug them out to sell the house). What I did was put them along the back fence in the corner or between our 2 sheds. In the back and along the sides plus the ground, I took hay and made a blanket out of it. I then added the roses, adding more hay between them. We then added some to the top. I then lined it with perennials. Worked pretty well. I lost a few in the end but it wasn't over the winter, it was after between spring & summer but mine were in pots for 2 winters. If you do find bargains it might be worth it. You could do a combination of what I did but put them in the ground on their side or at an angle, then insulate with straw.

If they have been in containers since last January, I would pass. Bare roots aren't dug here yet, so if they are bare roots, they'd have to have been in cold storage since last November. I'd pass. In CA, if you can buy fresh bare roots in late November, that's terrific. But there is hot weather yet to come in CA. You don't want to be messing with bare roots when the temperatures top 100 degrees. :-) Jeri

Hi - I'm w/ w b ... although BB seems sturdier than the original ES & even Forever & Ever, under your full/sun the blossoms will, likely scorch. I only have one (planted in '07) in my assorted collection of Hs, is a great performer & she is only under f/s for a few hrs, she wimps out a bit tho picks herself back up & dusts herself after she gets shaded & looks great w/ only a few florets scorched! Perhaps more experienced gardeners who've planted BB 'en masse' can comment on protective benefit of growing as a group or a hedge in f/s. Best of luck!!! Â;) BB is a beautiful/reliable shrub!