Raspberries are not well suited to container culture. Blueberries such as you linked to are very well suited to container culture. The dwarf varieties can be grown in 12" pots and are shallow rooted (roots go down 6-8"). However, many dwarf blueberries will spread much further than 12" if allowed to so a larger pot will often result in a wider (though not taller) shrub. The only caveat in growing blueberries is that nearly all will fruit poorly if the soil ph isn't in the 4.0 to 5.0 range which is very acidic and difficult to maintain unless you follow some simple precautions. First, use peat moss as the base of the potting mix. Do not use regular potting soil that is peat based as lime has been added to counteract the acidity. Regular peat is 3.5-4.5ph in most cases. Add some compost to the peat for nutrients. Fertilize with an acid fert labelled for azaleas. Blueberries do not require much fertilization so go very light on the fert. The water you use will affect the ph of the container soil quickly. Use only rainwater (ph 4-5-5.5 in most cases) or use vinegar to adjust the ph of your tapwater (requires a ph test paper or kit capable of reading down to 4.5) to figure how much vinegar to use. Alternately you can use distilled water which is ph neutral and unbuffered so shouldn't affect ph much, if at all. Really all there is to blueberries is controlling the ph of the water going into the container and they pretty much grow themselves, especially in containers. Most are also very beautiful in the fall when the leaves turn colors and many have colored wood in the winter as well. I grow 2 varieties of dwarf blueberries in containers, they are Northsky and Tophat. Cold hardy to zones 2-3. Most blueberries fruit best when allowed to cross pollinate although some are self fertile like the one you linked to. Still, having 2 different varieties next to each other is a good thing. Lastly, all blueberries are shallow rooted, even the taller shrubs so they can all be grown in containers successfully. You aren't limitted to dwarf varieties with containers. Just pay attention to the zone ratings as blueberries are very different in the zones they do best in or can survove in. There are varieties for zone 2 and varieties for very hot areas as well. Choose one for your area.

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Yes, you will need to keep the pH of the soil near Neutral (pH 6.5-7.5) to obtain the red flowers. If planted in acidic soil, the flowers will be purple, jf the alkalinity is too high, they tend to be pink. Check some of the local nurseries to see if they carry these or can obtain one for you. The plant you will receive from WG is a rooted cutting in a 4" pot and very pricey @ $17, including shipping. Check some of the online nurseries that specialize in Hydrangeas; HydrangeasPlus.com, NantucketHydrangeas.com, hydrangeas.com are some of the better known ones. You should be able to find a gallon (or equvalient) sized plant for a little more than the WG price. Rb

Ione, I asked my friend who gave it to us and she said it is a horse chestnut. That jibes with the identification page you posted above. The wide leaflets on the compound leaves definitely fit the horse chestnut description. "Buckeye" is a different genus, with narrow leaflets in comparison to these. American chestnuts do not appear to have compound leaves at all, so that's out. In reading up on Aesculus hippocastanum on the web, the variant that is a hybrid between A. hippocastanum and A. pavia is indeed the closest. AND it is indeed the Fort McNair!! Great ID job. -Regina