I've had that vaccinium outdoors for years, if I remember right they were growing it many years ago at Bovees nursery near Portland - where it would be expected to get colder than around Seattle. However, I did just have a potted one gallon plant go partly brown in the garage. Have not looked at the one outside. The euonymus is a USNA selection, should be much hardier than needed here. The species does tend to like a hot location, it seems the wrong situation can result in an immature condition late in the year. Also a planting site overhung by trees that appear to encourage weevil activity, like evergreen conifers or birch trees, would be expected to produce much damage on an evergreen euonymus. Around here you really have to watch the proximity of such trees to these and other particularly susceptible kinds like rhododendrons when planting them out. (Yesterday I looked more closely and saw the extent of notching of the leaves of a fairly big hybrid rhododendron planted several years ago some yards in front of a stand of small Douglas firs etc. The nearest live, nearly overhead branches or something like 30' away). Some mildewing of the Japanese species is also fairly prevalent here, elsewhere they may see a lot of this (as well as heavy, spoiling infestations of euonymus scale). When woodland gardening the best plan can be large openings cut out of the existing stand of trees, with minimal intermingling of these and the new plantings. This approach can be seen at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden. You want belts of trees around the edge that are thick enough to cut the wind and tall enough to cast shadows over the plantings in July, but not necessarily have any of them inside the planted part. High-branching crowns, with nothing between them and the plantings present the problem of pelting fog and rain drip. Perhaps the worst example I've seen was poppyworts almost melting beneath the liquid hail from a Douglas fir.

I thought about you all last night. And Helen, I was up about the same time you were. The TV weather picture was a sea of red and boy, was there water coming down! I had just shy of 3 inches in the rain gauge. My car trunk in the garage is covered with plants ready to go out, and I had even planted a darling little Supersweet 100 tomato a couple days ago. I knew better-- She got covered with some loose straw and a pot over her this evening. Surely our drought has been broken. I wondered this AM if I should be boiling water, as the last time we had that much water, it was after the tornado. But I thought maybe Folger's would take care of everything, and apparently there wasn't an order out after all. Not one tulip bloom was shattered, nor were any dogwood blooms knocked off, so all we had was rain. The thunder and lightning was terrible, though. "Our" storm pushed off east and made some big trouble today. So sorry. And I'm real sorry I didn't mow earlier! Sunny

the articles pertained to perchlorates... In 2002,the EPA rcommended regulation of perchlorates in drinking water at 1ppb base on a rat study involving 3000 mother,pups,and fetal rats where abnormalities in brain development,thyroid and hormone output were found at low exposure: (0.01 milligrams /kilogram rat body wt.)The 1ppb assessment also considered risk to babies and other sources of perchlorate contaminants:vegetables,fruits,some dairy products and breast milk...Critics argued that the study design was flawed and the National Research Council stated that the rat study was inconclusive and recommended 24ppb standard for drinking water. __________________________________________ (2002)(WSJ) Peter Waldman articles on perchlorates can be found at http://www.mindfully.org/ (left margin)>pesticides/toxins/endocrine disruptors>>2002; Perchlorates and Perchlorate Salts:EPA site http://www.epa.gov/iris/subst/1007.htm some debate--letters to the editors:(Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology: 40(2004)...having difficulty linking directly....will try again later... see EWG for some updates...

Darlene, I been growing two varieties in 6b for 8-10 years, they come in when the last orchids come in for the winter, they're both out for the summer as of this weekend. I usually get blooms indoors and out. About every 5 years I have to start new plants from cuttings because the older plants are getting too large, I ditch them once the new ones establish. Why do you feel you can't grow them? Bob