Even "southern high bush" blueberries can take quite a bit of freezing temps, (some botanist are classifying blueberries into 2 types, lowbush, (exclusively a couple of northern species) and highbush. And like apples, some require more chill hours than others, but are the same species, (Vaccinium cyanococcus or Vaccinium corymbosum; Since these plants will readily cross pollinate, it will take a geneticist to really tell us what is what). Therefore, I would not worry too much about them being able to over winter, just remember that just because the plant isn't actively growing doesn't mean that it doesn't require adequate watering.

Lynn....... I think you are making the overwintering of these roses too hard. I know you are a planner, but sometimes you just have to wing it. I started my rose life in San Diego and was given the same advice as above. San Diego is also considered to be Rose Heaven. Note the ARS giving that advice in San Diego gave that timing so that the first flush of perfect roses would be ready for the rose shows in early April. It takes about six to seven weeks for a rose once it has set bud to bloom, so if your timing is early April you work back from there. You do not have to follow that timing if you are not worried about having roses ready for a show, but are just growing roses for your garden and don't need perfect roses, but need healthy roses. Cooperative Extensions and Master Gardeners have been parroting the advice given by the local rose societies for more than 60 years. That's because they do not specialize in roses and figure the ARS must know what should be done for their care. In San Diego, we stopped dead heading our roses in October and then began our pruning in December to be completed by Valentine's Day, so that they would be ready to show. My experience and personal opinion is that you stop deadheading in October, allow the rose to set seed and then the rose will go as dormant as nature will allow that rose to go dormant. When we dead head, we are interrupting the plant's natural cycle of getting pollenated and then setting seed, which stimulates the rose to re-bloom. If you don't dead head, the plant will complete it's natural cycle and rest. There is no need for dormant sprays unless you have a serious disease problem or unless you want perfect foliage for a rose show. I believe in leaving the leaves because the rose will abandon them when they no longer perform the function needed for the rose. Studies show that the photosynthesis process stops when temps reach around the 70 degree level. So you can take them off or not. I think they provide a larger mass for the top growth and leaving them on helps protect the canes from the colder temps. Cluster your pots on your patio and surround them with bags of leaves or mulch and stuff the same material in the gaps between the pots to make a bigger mass and to protect the outside pots from the colder temps and to keep the temps within the mass as constant as possible. If you feel you need to protect the top growth from freezing temps, you can cover them just as farmers do with their crops. These are small roses, they don't need to be pruned for the first year except to clean out the rose and shape it. (Note: I don't even shape the rose until it's been in the ground for at least two seasons, but I live where temps get colder.) You want it to grow out of those gallon cans, so you might as well just let it grow. Cutting them back/pruning them when they are small just slows down that process because the roses are storing nutrients in their canes. I now live in a climate with temps lower than you have reported. I over-wintered roses outside for six years in containers before I got them all planted. None of them died. I should have replaced the soil in those pots, but I was too busy digging rose holes in rock. I had to over winter the pots in a totally unprotected yard and I did not go out in the rain or snow to cover them. I also had to maintain those roses in direct sunlight in high temps that lasted for months. The key to my success was the larger mass. Not taking off leaves, spraying or taking off leaves. It kept the temperatures and moisture more consistent. In my best year, I could only get about twenty out of over one hundred roses planted. The only thing you need to do differently than I have done, is to make sure the pots don't dry out while they are resting on the patio. I've been told watering once a month is sufficient, but it doesn't hurt to check and see if you need to do it more often in your climate. Once I got them in the ground, they my roses took off even better than I expected because they finally had a chance to spread their roots. So your choice is to go by the book or wing it. Smiles, Lyn PS ... this rose, 'Kim Rupert', looked horrid in the pot, this is how it looked the first year I got it in the ground.

Forgot to mention the varieties: 1 brown turkey, 1 Chicago hardy and one no-name get from a local grown fig tree (owner generously gave the rooted branch but he doesn't know the name either).

Mike, I would not go for very many, if any, "White" (Green) varieties of figs aside from maybe brooklyn white, white marseilles, paradiso, lattarula, these are the only green varieties I'm aware of that will ripen readily that far north without extending the season artificially. I was staring at a big ole' unripened JH adriatic fig this morning...wishing My fig 'short list' , in order of how likely they are to succeed and produce (in containers or outside in my experience) #1 ANY Mt Etna variety (I would go w/ Takoma Violet personally, but any of the 'Mt. Etna' varieties would do well like Marseilles Black VS or Hardy Chicago. I have a friend about 15 minutes from me that has 30 trees in the ground, in WEST VIRGINIA mountains, zone 6b. There are no other figs this hardy or productive in cold environments that I am aware of ) Notes of berry, peach, and grape soda in the flavors. #2 Malta Black, Improved Celeste, LSU Tiger, VdB, RdB, Florea, Celeste Malta Black is supposedly not a MT Etna type but almost identical to them so gets lumped in w/ them. So much debate in fig nomenclature these days =/ #3 Brooklyn White, lattarula, paradiso, LSU Purple (plus other LSU hybrids like O'rourke) mostly in the sugar taste group #4 Still figuring it out most of the varieties I just listed would come back from the roots after a total top kill and may still produce that year. The LSU Purple in the picture I posted earlier is about 8' tall and was grown from a cutting last winter to give you an idea of the capability. I'm not aware of many perennial fruits or trees that can do that so don't give up on figs!