Holey Gizmo, Tony!!! Those blueberries look GRrrrrrrrrrrreat! And look at my lil' baby plumie-it looks so happy there-smooch baby. I miss it, now that I see it in your garden. It will bloom and bring good karma, this sucker bloomed when it was only 8 inches tall! The Brom you gave me is this one

And I love it.

Yo Tony-are ya sure "St." Mary Beth NEEDS all those sunshine blues?????

Naw, she dont need only those 10, she wants about 25 more on top of what we already have!

I am going to have to play 'Dennis' and make some sort of mockingbird enclosure now for sure.

I used to have the plants on the screened enclosure around the pool and the birds would find their way in, tip toe over to the plants and take a berry and walk back out. It was funny to watch.

Now since the enclosure is gone, we made a small makeshift one out of some sort of rubberized webbing and it worked well but the mockingbirds would get underneath it at ground level and have a ball. The other day when pruning the existing bushes down we found a big hole chewed all the way through the size of a opossum or raccoon.

Soooo only reason I am telling ya this is because IF you decide to get blueberries, you need to be prepared to build protection for them too, or they will be gone.
{{gwi:2102923}}

I got em from another joint on the auction and was surprised at their quality.

If they start to grow and show signs of making it, all will be fine, but it will take some time to be sure.

If you want, I can back track and find the name of the grower.

Tony, did your Mfruit bush arrive?

I want blueberries!!!

I have just this hinky dinky plant that does nothing. Find me the guy you got em from. I don't know how to play ebay. After hearing all your praise of this Sunshine Blue, I gotta get some.

Mr. Mocker VonVadar, makes me crazy with my grapes already. I have a Passie Subarosa that has purple grape size fruits over near the arbor that he likes. He keeps grabbing my grapes when he can't find any passie fruits. We are going to put up some kind of netting or screening up to keep HIM out. No one else seems to bother them but this wacky Mockingbird. Plus I have my blackberries and your Mutha Raspberry there as well and will not tolerate losing fruit to an outta control bird! Raspy, btw is doing WONDERFUL, can't wait for fruit.

hey, tony -- i sent you a ms by gardenweb's crappy interface. in case you don't get it -- i'm out of town until tuesday. we'll hook up someday!

and, hey, cindeea! your sunrose is going out first thing when i get back to town. it was doing nicely when i left three weeks ago... hopefully, it's still going strong.

and, finally -- what kind of bberries are they??? Sunshine? Never heard of them. am i missing something?

i wonder -- has anyone tried true blue propagation for blue berries? their prices and selection are pretty amazing...

Here is a link that might be useful: true blue plants

Hey Cindee, I am real glad that the raspberry is thriving. Its the only one I know that could hack our climate. It did well, but now with the pool outta the yard, the plant was in the wrong place, plus I knew you would take the best care of it possible. It may have a bunch of pups that you can share in the spring.

TreeFrog, Nope, not yet but my order is in the works. Its only a matter of time now. In the mean while, here is a shot of a MF growing from a fruit Veronika brought to Ricky's swap. Sorry to announce, we had a closed casket ceremony at the compost pile for the preemies you were kind enough to bring along.
{{gwi:2102924}}

ah Michael,

Sunshine Blue is what I have been growing for yrs now. The beauty of this variety is that they require the LEAST amount of chill hours, they are self pollinating and grow no more than about 3ftx3ft AND they are the least fussy when it comes to pH levels.

Funny you mentioned propagation in the name in your post. Check these pics. I am trying to get these to kick start so I dont have to be buying anymore.
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Michael!!! I thought you forgot about me, but then I also forgot you were traveling. I can't wait to see the yellow sunrose/ice plant. How are the ones I sent you doing...oops how would you know, you aren't home! lol

tony!
grrr... i must have spent a dozen hours on the phone and on the 'net reading about blueberries for our area, and not once did anyone mention this sunshine -- looking around, it seems like it would have been a great one to add to my garden. i have four cultivars growing now... i guess it's never too late. if you want some cuttings from mine, let me know. all of them are very well suited to this area.

• Brightwell (Rabbiteye Blueberry)
• GulfCoast (Southern Highbush Blueberry)
• Sharpblue (Southern Highbush Blueberry)
• Emerald (Rabbiteye Blueberry)

Blueberries are notoriously difficult to propagate... let me know if you're successful, maybe we'll have to figure out a trade -- you propagate my blueberries, i'll bring you some mushroom compost or pinestraw...

Michael, I think my little ill mannered Blue is the Emerald. It is just "wimpy", close to the ground and not much growth in over a yr and 1/2. The other one I had was 'opal' and it just decided to die.

Michael, my guess is the places you talked with didnt have any Sunshine Blue in stock, it has to be the only reason.

When I first started growing blueberries I found it near impossible for me to arrange to have have various plants bloom at the same time which is a requirement for pollination and setting fruit. You cant hurry mother nature along no matter what.

Seeing as the Sunshine Blue is self fertile, and can be grown in pots and produce about 7lbs of fruit per bush, my experience is they cant be beat based on all the features they possess.

I am sure there are bigger, better etc etc, yet my experience/luck shows nothing easier and foolproof in my yard anyways.

Cindee, Even though I saw them on ebay, I emailed the seller direct and bought em that way. I was a lil uneasy that they didnt have a fone #, but as it turned out, the plants look great, arrived fast and hopefully will make it.

I have had some as you mention you have now. Not growing hardly at all. My guess is the pH may be off some and not allowing the nutrients to get to the plant.

IF you get some miracid or any type of acid fert and give the plant a good hit of it before it dies altogether you may see positive results.

You need to nurse that plant back to good health asap!

cindeea,
when i left, the little pinky you sent me was doing great -- i transplanted it up and put it under irrigation. i'll soot you a pic when i get home. i've been gone for three weeks -- too long!

that yellow sunrose is really vigorous -- sprawling everywhere, very densely. it's much larger in leaf than other sunroses & i think it'll make a very good groundcover. great blooms, too! about the size of a penny.

btw, do you have reed-stem orchids?

Thanks guys. Tony, I have Miracid, I'll dump some on it.

Michael, by reed orchid, do you mean epidendrum?

Tony,
congratulation on your little baby MF!!!
I am very proud of you. Its a beauty.
I am saving you some more seeds.
Veronika

Hey, Tony, is there a secret to getting Sunshine blueberries to fruit? The plant you gave me a couple of years ago looks great, but it rarely fruits for me. I'm growing mine in a pot.
Do you grow them in the ground or in pots?

I'm falling behind on abbreviations. What does MB stand for?

The mulberry cuttings you gave me are doing great. Do these mulberries do best in the ground? How tall/wide will it get?

I'm going to investigate these rasberries.

Bill

Hi Bill,

MB = Mary Beth.

Good to know the Sunshine Blue bush is doing good health wise.

Only thing I can think of that can restrict fruit production is the ratio of fert. I always look for something like 6-40-10 or something similar. The Blooms and fruits are motivated by the phosphates, just like other plants.

I try to keep the pH down around 6 by using sulphur. I mix it in the soil and it lasts a long time.

A fert like Miracid gives the plant an immediate acid fix, but not sure how long it lasts and what the actual npk ratios are either.

I did just think of one other possibility BUT its remote. The plants need to be keep outside and allowed to get as cold as possible for as long as possible. Do not shelter the blueberry plants. Its my understanding that Sunshine Blue has the lowest amount of chill hours required.

Mine were loaded with berries this year and one of the plant is still kickin em out.

I was in Deland over the weekend, sorry I missed ya. Email me when you may be around next.

Tony

Thanks, Tony! I'm going to follow your advice. I'm also going to plant it in the ground. I don't think it could possibly be the cold. If anything I would think mine would get a little more cold hours than yours does, as I'm a little further north and in a less urban area. So I think it must be the acid and phosphates.

Sorry I missed you too. Ana and I haven't been going down your way as much as usual lately, but I'll be sure to let you know when we do. Contact me on the FL page if you're ever up here again (my GW mail NEVER works).

Bill

BTW Bill, Mine are all in pots. I find it easier to protect the plants from the mocking birds by being able to move them as needed.

Its probably real obvious, but I am drawing a blank,

whats the FL page?

We come to deland often, so in a few weeks we can try again.

Tony

Sorry, I was speaking Bill-ese. I meant the Florida Gardening Forum of Garden Web--where we are now.

But you can just email me when you're coming to town.

dwpitts at cfl dot rr dot com

Maybe we can get together with Ill mannered.

Bill