"I wouldn't be able to keep up with this feverish late planting.... come springtime I'd be like a squirrel trying to find his buried nuts! A tulip would pop up and I'd be saying "who planted that thing there!?"... "why did I plant the crocus in the same spot I planted the hyacinths??!!" "who did all this to my garden?" LOL!" Haha, Kato_B! I might worry about that if 1, spring didn't bring every blasted squirrel in the neighborhood to my garden in search of nuts (or crocus), anyway, and 2, I wasn't naturally absent-minded. I can be very organized sometimes, but most of the time, I find myself in situations like, I'm ready to go out the door but cannot find my shoes (and I don't have very many pairs of shoes). In order to prevent total insanity and very high blood pressure, I've learned to take these things in stride. My garden is tiny, my plant list is huge, and I like to rearrange things a lot. Plants multiply and divisions get tucked in all over the place, I sow seeds and "someone"--squirrels, or the rain--moves them to another place in the garden. I actually like the surprises; for me, they're a pleasant part of the gardening experience. But I can see how this might make other gardeners crazy. When I plant bulbs late, I plant on a cushion of coarse sand or perlite. It helps a lot in my clay soil. Amanda

Drew51, My plants are still young and I'm keeping them small. I didn't like the fruit so I ditched the Mulberry and the gooseberries. Of fruiting age I have 1 Cherry, 2 blueberries, and 2 blackberries. This year I harvested nearly a gallon of sweet cherries, 1.25 gallons of blueberries, and a gallon of blackberries. I'm guessing they would be larger and produce more if planted in the ground. Not that I'm an expert, but I've learned much on this forum. Fruitnut grows a ton of stuff in pots. gardenweb's search function seems to limit results to the previous year's posts. However, you can direct google to search a specific site. Check out fruitnut's old posts. Try google searches like this site:gardenweb.com fruitnut blueberries. My quick tips would be, 1) The rule of thumb is that your plants will need to be 1 or 2 zones hardier than your zip code reflects, unless you protect them in the winter. 2) Pot size matters. I think fruitnut grows everything in 5 gallon pots or smaller. I'm using 14 gallon rubber maid rough totes with drain holes drilled in the bottom. 14 gallons is pretty heavy. I can't drag anything larger. 3) Potting soil is a big deal. Most of the commercial stuff isn't up to the task. Making your own is better and cheaper. And it's easy. However that discussion is a little bit longer and the recipe varies a little for acid loving plants. If you decide to try potted plants, circle back around to the topic of potting soil. 4) Your plants will probably need water every day in the summer. 5) Fertilizer is important in pots. I'm still working on that. Check out fruitnut's posts. Good luck.

You know Atwoods has surprised me with their nursery items. I just had never thought of them before. Last year I found a rose variety (Golden Fantasie) that I had been searching for but couldn't find locally or even mail order for many many years. One year they had hanging baskets of Callibrachoa for $7.95 -these usually run in the double digits. There have been other "finds" as well, so now I make Atwoods one of my regular nursery stops in spring....... And btw, we've grown the Navaho thornless Blackberry. Had it for years. It produces large fruit and is a reliable producer. It's only drawback is that it's a large seeded variety, so I used it mostly for making syrups, jams etc.

Beng brings up a good point-that of the possibility a given conifer, or evergreen, for purposes of this discussion, could potentially undergo a bit of photosynthesis if air temps go high enough. My own suspicion is that even if this is so, it is more than made up for by the need for respiration, a drain on the system. I highly doubt a good case could be made that there is anything positive about these warmups, so far as "dormant" winter-hardy plants are concerned. I have no proof however. As to reproductive strategies, the most common, again, among species that are adapted to cold winters, is for there to be a need for "chilling" hours. These needed hours of exposure to cold temperatures, in order that subsequent reproductive systems can proceed, is met by cold periods, not warmups. Again, I highly doubt any case could be made of a positive benefit. In general, what's good for plant species which are adapted to cold winters is for it to get cold and then stay cold. That's the ideal, and every deviation from that is a lessening of conditions, not an enhancement.