Flora, Thanks for explaining this further. It makes me think that the exposure to sun may have little to do with my current problems: I live close to the ocean, where it is cooler than inland, and there are cooling breezes. Also the sunlight (for just a couple of hours in the morning given the facing and construction of my balcony)is broken up by a slated railing. However, we sometimes get Santa Ana winds here -- very hot and dry from the desert -- so I'm glad to have this info for the future -- when I could take the plants inside. I do understand the odds are against me, but I've already invested time, work and money in these plants and since I have the one plant that looks happy, I want to see if I can't do the next-to-impossible. :) If you, or anyone else on the list, can answer my question about possible cuttings, I'd appreciate it. Claire

Hello Xikum, I'm sorry you are still having a hard time finding the wonderful Bilberry plant. I strongly recommend calling the Horizon Herb Company for this plant. They can be reached at (541) 846-6704 by phone. Horizon Herbs has Bilberry plants several years old and ready to produce fruit. Also, the Hartmann Plant Company at this link still has them available. They list them under the name "Eagle Bilberry" because Bilberries help night vision. I just checked it out myself: http://hartmannsplantcompany.com/miva/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=BB-R-7600-0400&Category_Code=&Store_Code=HPC Hartmann's phone number is: (269) 253-4281. I personally will not deal with Hartmann's because they would not take my inquiry about whether their plants are organic and/or genetically modified seriously. They even made it obvious they were brushing it off as an unimportant request. There is another source I just discovered by the name of Sand Mountain Herbs on the internet as: http://www.sandmountainherbs.com/bilberry.html They still sell the seeds but they seem to have sold out of their plants until the Fall of 2008. You may have to wait a few months is all it means. Hopefully, this will help and you will have your Bilberry plant very soon. You MUST contact these suppliers directly to get proper satisfaction. Happy Gardening, Anthony

I had been wanting to move them (and 4 others for about 4 years or so, so that is why I dug the whole thing. I didn't really see any way of just digging off a clump, knowing how bad the top looked. Would 4 eyed (multiple eyes per piece) up woody pieces and 4 nice healty roots make for a nice start? do you think? Should I send more? Maybe the fairest trade would be a flate rate box with a 'bunch' of each. I know when you buy a potted red one at a big box store, that it doesn't have much foliage, thus not many eyes, and they aren't cheap.

Looks like a winning combination to me,and the mini's look great too. Jean