I set out 15 blueberry plants about 5-6 years ago in the same bed. The bed is in full fun, from north to south, two rows of 7 and 8 plants. The bed has a gentle slop from south to north. The spacing is 4.5' between plants and 5' between rows. When I planted them, I mixed with 50% peat moss and 50% existing soil. I did not put on any sulfur. I have not tested the PH for a long time. I mulched the bed with about 1"-2" of composted wood chips. The 5 plants in the south size (the high ground) did really well and they are about 5' tall, putting out good berries for at least 3 years. But two plants died, one Rubel and one Elliot. At first, I thought drainage is to blame since the plants in high ground did extremely well. But the Northland and Brigitta are in the middle of the rows. The Polaris is the 2nd plant from the south and it has not grown much at all. The bed is not water clogged. So I decided to replant the slow growing ones to another location. When I replanted them today, I mixed with 50/50 peat moss/soil and add 1-2 cups of sulfur and a cup of bone meal in each hole. I hope this will somehow make the PH lower and make the plants happier.

Hey Julie, not that its a big deal , but Im a proud papa lol.. My real name is Jeremy, Ive used Silverkelt as a Moniker seens my early teens posting on usenet football forums (see its not all about flowers for me lol) It was a stage ive gone through for a long time, my ancestors are from the british isles, My ancestory can be traced back through to the Pilgrims on my dads side and to rob roy on my moms side, her grandparents are full Scottish.. if that didnt bore you to no end .. I could keep going as my wife and I spent two lovely weeks in Ireland and I got to go to some amazing places there as well! But if you are going to go for flowers, the famine museum has a very nice memorial rose garden.. this was years ago , I was growing a few hybrid teas in my front garden at my old home.. I would appreciate it so much more now! Silverkelt

Alex There were a few problems this fall-one of them(this also answers something wetsuiter asked)was that twice last fall there were horrific errors in the low temp forecast...horrific to me anyway :0 27F was forecast one particular night and we hit 21F(I believe 19F officially),this killed all the leaves on the T.ferns,except for the D.Antarctica(D.Squarossa about 50%),it also killed the very small C.Medularis-it wasn't very vigorous anyway. Luckily my C.Brownii appears to still have some healthy croziers in there ready to burst out in the next warm spell/month. The others appear to be o.k. too,although being able to open them so much this winter has helped keep the damaged parts from rotting out! Alex If we are to have a cool/cold spring,I just hope it is dry... amazing what these palms can take if it isn't raining and cold. wetsuiter If a palm can come back from this-total spear/core pull and complete trunk cutting,almost to ground level..... And then recover in one year to this..........regular spear-pull isn't so bad (-; Heres what one of the others looked like. You can clearly see the cut if grew out of 0: Pretty cool huh? I guess the point is,that they can more than recover in this climate....the other issue is that the smaller palms are not as hardy...yet. Thanks Mike! I have been wondering what you have been up too, I will call you later. longaeve54 There are many different types..... Yucca Aloifolia,Y.Rostrata,Y.Gloriosa,Y,Aloifolia(variegated)- Agave.Havardiana,A.Neomexicana,A.Parryi,A.Parryi(blue form) A.Protoamericana...and probably some other ones I am forgetting about. Heres a(LINK Below Weather sticker) great site I have ordered from for smaller sized cold hardy cactus. Click for weather forecast Here is a link that might be useful: Cactus

Lucy, my Mom listed her house in a small town in MN (even smaller than yours), so I've been looking at the RE listings in her area. I know exactly what you mean about slim pickings! Mom listed at $165K, and there are hardly any listings near that price. There are old/tiny houses for less than $100K, and there are lake properties for $300K+. I suggest you do one of two things: either keep renting, and save as much as you can (dump your car and student loan amounts into savings), or change your expectations. You might not find your dream house in your community right away, but can you find a house you could live with for 5 years? Another possibility is to buy property, but wait to build. If the property is paid for, it counts as equity when you go to build.