Blueberrier, Thank you very much for the detailed explaination. I appreciate that. I , like you, love eating blue berries. I like eat it fresh picked right from the bushes. I started with a idea of edible landscape planted 6 bushes, now I have a dozen and the # is still growing. I can't resist the temptation of HD blue berry on sale for $3-4. Now I have at least 7 different type of blue berry plants growing in the yard. I guess this is a good thing for corss pollination. My Chandler is suppose to be largest BB and grow an 3/4 to an inch size berries. If you Darrow can grow to 3/4", this is very impressive size. The idea of thining it, especailly those on the lower branches, really does not reduce my BB harvest. Most time, I watch my BB grow into good size and turn the color then disappears the next day. I know the 4 legged get ahead of me. By concentrate BB on top of the bushes, might help me better netting the area so I can actually harvest some BB for myself. I have Duke which has load of BB right now. BB is all over the bushes and is still blooming! I.E I have mixed size of BB and flowers on the same clust. Should I thin the each clust , ie flowers and later grow BB off the clust and leave the early grow BB on ? Or should I just take the entire clust off all together? BB can be picked 1st season, 2nd season , and 3rd season, etc. If I thin it, does it mean that I only can pick the BB one season? MoleX, please post the result late this year. I would be very interested to know what is the result of your experiment . RM, Blueberrier, if you can provide some contact info of that Professor or name of the institution, I would appreciate that, You may e-mail it to my My Page. I am just very curious about this topic. If anyone knows a video of thining using this method, please post the link. jolj, I have heard that Rusty nails,egg shells does not provide Fe, and Ca to the plant because they do not disolve in water in ionized form . BB soil is acidic, which can disolve more metals, especially oxidized metal like FeO2, than you might think. If you put egg shells in vinegar which is a weak acid, the Ca in the egg shell will disolve into the vinegar in days.

That's a beautiful bush, Lilo. If it's never trimmed, does it just keep spreading and getting taller? In my area of WV, 'Redbud' trees/bushes grow along the side of the interstate; at least that's where I see them. They just finished blooming, last week. The flowers last for about two weeks and they're a lovely sight. The funny thing--to me, anyway--is that they're called 'Redbuds', but the flowers are a deep fuschia!, just like the little 'purple finches' have deep red breasts.

This is a great thread to keep going. I observed the same springtime gap in blossoms that many have mentioned. Dianthus do bloom at the perfect time, so I've been trying to plant them, but haven't had much luck getting them to grow. This year I may just buy some plants and be done with it. I would encourage anyone who has the space, to grow as much Common Milkweed as possible. It is a great nectar source and is the primary species of milkweed that Monarchs depend upon. Because it spreads via the root system, it can bounce back even after being tilled into the ground. Prior to the widespread use of Round-Up, 90% of the milkweed used by Monarchs was growing between the rows of crops and along the roads. Since Round-Up and since the increase in the value of corn for production of ethanol, the availability of milkweed has dropped precipitously throughout the entire Midwest. This is threatening the existence of the miraculous migration. Monarchs will continue to exist in the south and west, but may disappear from the rest of North America. I apologize if I'm preaching to the choir, but I try to spread the word when I can. Hope everyone is having a blessed holiday season. Martha

My Spireas are just beginning to bloom. Just one or two flowers on each bush, but they are covered in bloom buds that are showing the white, so soon they will all pop overnight. The Pink-flowering Almond bushes are loaded with little pink buds. Yesterday I saw three clumps of Hosta had emerged in the bed under the Weeping Willow.. Yeah! They survived the transplant in this drought! The new orchard I planted last spring is doing well. The Apricot tree is covered in beautiful pale pink blossoms and the peaches are forming bloom buds. The wise apple trees are not being fooled by this warm pre-spring weather. If we get any of our typical spring freezes or frosts, there will be no fruit on the apricots or peaches...again. The older fruit trees are fine. The big pear tree is about to bloom, but it can handle those late-spring cold snaps and still bear fruit in the fall. My weeping Willow has tiny new yellow-green leaves. So pretty swaying in the breeze. I ADORE your Pepper Tree I miss those. My favourite tree in childhood years for climbing. I always had to laugh when watching the TV series back in the 70s of "The Walton's". It was supposed to take place in the mountains of WV, and yet there was that gigantic Pepper tree in their yard. (lol) Your garden is divine - just picture perfect. Everything is so beautiful. You could submit those images to a gardening magazine for publication. Seriously! Hey, thanks for the heads-up about Lamb's Ears being susceptible to root knot Nematode. I love them too. We do have a problem with Nematodes. Not as bad now as it was in the past, but there are still some areas where it is still a major problem. I was wondering what killed out some of my Lamb's Ear clumps. ~Annie