I agree with Denninmi- watering over the summer will be very important, especially for blueberries. I'd suggest using a soaker hose/drip irrigation to take some of the work out of it. As far as a good nursery which ships potted plants, I would suggest Rolling River Nursery. Their prices aren't much higher than bare root, so I've been doing more and more of my buying there (I bought from 9 different nurseries this spring). Berries Unlimited (3 gal blueberry plant is very nice, but very pricey), Backyard Berry Plants, and Whitman Farms are 3 other choices who ship potted berry plants. I don't think any of these sell apples and plumbs though, so Rolling River would be my suggestion for those. It would however limit your rootstock and variety choices a bit.

You should be fine planting Moonbeam in early fall, just make sure it is in a somewhat dryish spot if you garden in clay, perhaps a little high, and not somewhere where the melting snow runs off. I have two large clumps, one in a regular mixed perennial bed & the other with daylilies. The first clump is over ten years old. I find that Moonbeam likes rich soils, but needs to be dry in order to winter well in the cold here. It also needs to be rejuvenated every 3 years or so as it seems that its long bloom seems to deplete the soil somewhat. (I lift them, split them up a bit, replenish the soil, & replant them in the same spot, or as I did once, use some to start another clump elsewhere). Moonbeam does get a late start for me in spring & it is easy to mistake it for grass or weeds, so mark it well. I also tried Baby Sun & Tequila Sunrise (a variegated variety) late last summer and they both wintered over well in a raised bed & have bloomed heavily for me this year as they did in their first year. Creme Brule was planted last year in the spring between some established daylilies & wintered over, but it is still too new to tell if it will be a long lasting perennial. I'd also wait till next spring to plant most other varieties of Coreopsis. Early Sunrise has wintered over for a couple of years in my garden, but its survival/return is always iffy here. IME, if you plant 3 to 5 plants, one or two won't return the first year, several will live a couple years and one, if you're lucky, will persist for 4 or 5 years. They do bloom for a long time, with larger blooms than the others I mentioned, so it's a tradeoff, depends what you want. I only tried Zagreb one time. I fall planted. It returned but never flourished, seemed to be stunted, perhaps from planting late & I finally removed it after a few years. Other gardeners I know have had no problems with it at all. As someone said, the really pretty newer varieties of pink coreopsis are annuals here. However, I have had some luck with rosea. It is a spreader, doesn't really clump for me, & unlike most coreopsis it prefers consistently moist soil. It seems to like the moist lower edges of my daylily bed. Be warned, however, it is a pale bluish pink which does not go well with peachy pinks. I have it planted with Cerise Queen Yarrow (behind on higher drier ground) around some small orchid daylilies (Siloam David Kirchhoff) at the front of the bed. A very pretty combo when it works - the dl sometimes bloom too early, while both the CQ yarrow and C. rosea are mid to late summer bloomers for me. Ah well...:~) that's gardening!

Here in zone 9 in CA, we plant EVERYTHING in the Fall! The mild wet winter is a perfect time, as you say, for plants to establish their roots, in order to take off in the Spring (our Spring bloom, bulbs, bloom on fruit trees, etc starts in Feb!. If you are really in zone 9, it is unlikely that you would have hard killer frosts? I would not use chemical fertilizers until the Spring, just good compost. Jackie

Hi - I'm w/ w b ... although BB seems sturdier than the original ES & even Forever & Ever, under your full/sun the blossoms will, likely scorch. I only have one (planted in '07) in my assorted collection of Hs, is a great performer & she is only under f/s for a few hrs, she wimps out a bit tho picks herself back up & dusts herself after she gets shaded & looks great w/ only a few florets scorched! Perhaps more experienced gardeners who've planted BB 'en masse' can comment on protective benefit of growing as a group or a hedge in f/s. Best of luck!!! Â;) BB is a beautiful/reliable shrub!