also looking for Fuki (Petasites japonicus) prefer Petasites japonicus var. giganteus

Hi everyone! Regardeng BLACKBERRIES, we, on the opposie side of the pool, have the same problems of OVERWINTERING the canes and the flower buds. Admittedly I yet have no own experience as I got interested in blackberries only this fall when discovered the existance of the new thornles and prolific varieties. So I read all that was worth reading in the Russian and US internet, especially the rather high-profile specialised forums of our blackberry enthusiasts.. I discovered that throughout Russia and Kazakhstan which both have areas with very serious frosts blackberry growing in those is nevertheless quite successful. Maybe someone here would benefit from their experience same as e.g. you grow plums of Russian origin such as ptitsin and fofanoff. Apparently Blackberries can bring huge yealds in climates with very low winter temps, even downing to -40C for rather ptolonged periods. The TECHNIQUE below allows overwintering without much problem. Plus some easy principles to follow. 1. All blackberries need to be laid down and covered for the winter, preferably after the first frost when the land is frozen. To ensure that this task is easy and hassle free: 2. Choose thornless varieties only. Those with thorns are said to be hell to lay and cover. 3. In early summer watch for the new canes (primocanes) to emerge. As soon as a shoot reaches 15-20cm carefully bend it 90 degrees and secure with a metal peg. When the cane grows another 40-60cm, secure it parallel to the ground with yet another peg. After it reaches 1 m let it grow as it will but better tie to the lowest string of the trellis Which gets them out of the way. Do not tip the ends as this would increase the leaf mass. Do the bending for all the emerging primocanes. 4. In autumn at the time of first frosts when all the fruiting canes have long been cut down lay the primocanes in lines stretched along one side of the trellis. Peg them to the ground, cover with two layers of 60g/m2 thick white non-woven fabric and secure all sides to the ground with no holes. This is said to help greatly even if serious frosts come before the snow. In milder and wetter climates they also put a plastic film layer on top of the fabric, leaving however the end bits open so there is always air circulation. The advice here is to experiment as all natural circumstaces differ. 5. Take off the cover layers gradually, and completely only after all danger of frost is over. By then the canes are likely to bear some yourg leaves and side shoots, but this is ok. Raise them carefully as the canes of come varieties are brittle, and tie to the trellis. 5. Winer frosts may not be a problem for blackberries, but summers need to be warm or hot. The shorter and milder/cooler the summers, the earlier fruiting varieties should be chosen. 6. Floricane varieties like PA Freedom in cooler and shorter summer climates may very sucessfully fruit if treated in the same way as other primocanes, i.e. as above, in a two-year culture. They would be one of the earliest to perform. If you have any questions do feel free to write me, I will try to help with more information. cathpetro at gmail dot com.

Ei - the beans needing warm soil is the same for bush although I think they are a bit tougher. You obviously have a sheltered spot plus the raised beds allow the soil to warm up faster. The pots are effectively raised beds and the driveway collects and retains heat fo that helps the pots. I used 8' bamboo poles to make a teepee using 4-5 poles. The first year I used 6' poles and the beans spilled over the top and ment roaming around! 8' is the minimum! I way overplant the beans (and peas) in the pots so don't have any idea how many are in the pots - I just cover the top of the pot with beans, leaving some space between them and then cover them with some more soil. (Soak the beans - and peas - overnight in water before planting and idelly add innoculant when planting beans or peas.) In the ground, rows might be easier although a teepee would work nicely too in a square-foot arragement. This year we'll have one pot of climbing green beans and one of yellow. Watermelons are fussy - need two compatable types for cross pollination, need lots and lots of heat, shouldn't be watered with cold water and need very rich soil. I think the people who have most success with them grow them on the compost heap! Blueberries are a nostagia thing for me. I grew up with wild blueberries all over the place and my summer job after year 1 of university was working on a blueberry research project crossing high and low bush types and assessing previous crosses. Since the research facility was in 'the middle of nowhere', I boarded for the summer with a local dairy farmer and family. He told all his diary-farmer friends that I did AI (Artificial Insemination) on blueberries! Highbush blueberries tolerate less than ideal acidity better than lowbush but definitely do better with proper pH. In the pots we use the soil acidifier sold to make hydrangeas blue. But it needs to be repeated several times over the summer as the pH drops - the water here is on the alkaline side so you have to keep checking the pH of the pots - and I forget to do that... It's easier to just buy blueberries from the farmers' market. We have to have blueberries from somewhere to make 'grandma's blueberry shortcake'. Yummy stuff! Asparagus is GB territory :-) I've never grown it.... Strawberries - yes, you shouldn't let them produce the year they are planted (but I always cheat and at least let one produce... :-) You need to do some reading on how to set up in an efficient way to grow them because they only crop well in the first year or two after planting and then the mother plants need removing. If you set it up right, the daughters (runners) are ready to take over by the time the mothers get removed. (The blueberry project was located in the facility that also provided/multiplied foundation strawberry plants for commercial sale...) Tomatoes - and many other things - shouldn't be grown in the same ground each year or diseases and pests will build up in the soil. That's why you do crop rotation. In a small enough planting you could replace the soil but that would be a PITA/impossible for a bigger area. Pay attention/learn how to 'read' the initials after variety names that indicate what they are resistant too and buy the most resistant varieties. Will you be growing them from seed? I forgot to mention - we tried cucumbers in the pots but they didn't like it - too many disease problems. They used to grow well in the ground at our previous house. Chelsea, our Golden at the time, loved them and we'd often catch her coming out of the garden with a cucumber in her mouth, trailing 8-10' of vines behind her! GB - I've been buying rhubarb at the farmers' market - and trading Zoe's owner dog cookies for rhubarb! Our rhubarb has petered out - too much shade... but rhubarb is one of those things I MUST have! We went looking for some non-dessert recipes to use rhubarb. We tried one that put it under the skin to bake chicken - odd but not bad. Then we tried one that was a beef stew with lots of rubarb in the sauce - tender meat but distinctly odd! I'll think we'll stick to dessert:-)

I have no idea on the vine maples. I did some various internet searches to confirm that this is about the right time of year for pears/cherries/similar. I've actually never grafted before, so I expect this may be a bit of a fiasco. But you gotta have a first (messy) time for everything, right? =)