I have talked back and forth with them as he was checking on the plants and received an email from Millers today and: "We will not have any Raven available this year. We are currently expanding our inventory and they will be available next year. Sorry we could not supply your needs. Please feel free to call me. We may have other varieties that interest you" It is a bit annoying as in the spring he assured me the plants would be available. Perhaps they are distributing none or perhaps larger orders trumped our less than 200 plant order, have no idea. For the west coast folks Fall Creek now has a license on the Ravens as well though they don't sell retail and have a 500 plant minimum. I did inquire of them on when they would be available. Sorry folks, I tried. I have had my 14 plant row tilled, irrigation in and ready for these things for well over a year now so to say I am disappointed is an understatement. This post was edited by bamboo_rabbit on Thu, Oct 24, 13 at 16:45

Sounds like you have the correct diagnosis. I just happen to be reading back issues of The Hosta Journal. Here is what appeared in the The Hosta Journal, Volume 35, No. 3, 2004. "Bacterial soft rot occurs in gardens and nurseries, particularly following very cold winters where plants may have been damaged by ice or freezing temperatures. Bacterial soft rot is a disease that degrades fleshy underground plant tissues. The fleshy tissue becomes watery and soft with an unpleasant aroma resembling that of dead fish. Above-ground symptoms are characterized by yellow, wilted leaves and a soft rot at the base of petioles, resulting in plant collapse and eventually plant death." Once plants are infected, most pathogens are difficult to eliminate; diseased plants should be removed from the landscape or nursery and destroyed. Many pathogens enter the plant through wounds, so use good sanitation practices whenever plants are divided and avoid unnecessary wounding to the roots and crowns when plants are transplanted. Use disinfectants to sanitize tools and work surfaces during propagation; rubbing alcohol or a 10% bleach solution can be effective. Other management strategies, such as selecting resistant cultivars or avoiding susceptible ones, fungicides . . . choice of mulch and potting mix and heat treatment, may help manage specific hosta diseases." Sounds like this hosta doesn't have much hope. Hopefully others with more experience will post their thoughts.

Hi again, Ok, I contacted my local Cornell Extension, and they cannot do the test (they don't have that equipment) - it must be mailed to the Cornell Plant Disease Diagnostic clinic. I explained what happened, and she does not think it is Phytophthora, because according to her the soil would have to be excessively wet "almost like a bog." She does not think it is worth having tested because they have been dead too long and other organisms may screw up the test. Now, everything I have read says it spreads in "wet" soil (not just "almost like a bog"), and that one of the main ways it is spread to new areas is through nursery stock. She thinks the trees "Just didn't take." Very odd, in my opinion. The fee for each test is $40, and each test (mold, fungus, nematodes) is a separate fee. I don't think it is worth it, since it has been too long. I'm going to call the nursery and explain what happened and ask them if they have certification proving they do not have Phytophthora. I already removed the mulch and soaked it in a 10% bleach solution, and when I removed the soil from the hole there were at least 100 earthworms in it, so I picked them all out and relocated them to another area of my yard that is pure clay that I've been amending with leaves and pine needles (nothing planted there yet). I'll soak the soil that was immediately around the tree in bleach, and then till the rest of the area and add a lot of compost and some sand for drainage. The plum was already planted above-grade, but I'll plant the mulberry even higher. I figure better safe than sorry and bleaching it is the safe way to go (my book on diseases says to throw the soil out - but that will only spread it to a new area!).

Well the soil must be acidic else they would not grow. What is the pH of your soil? MI produces the most blueberries of any state, but that is the west side where we have sandy low pH soils. I live on the east side with an alkaline clay loam. So I use raised beds to control pH. All attempts to grow in native soil and keep pH low failed. I have had great success with the raised beds. I like to grow cultivars that rate high in taste. I wish i could grow a few of the early SHB like Springhigh as it is one of the best blueberries out there. I do grow a couple SHB that rate high in taste as they are late bloomers and can work here, but most are NHB types. I never tried Rabbiteye, but have a few cultivars I would consider. I'm out of room though. I also grow many other fruits, so room is limited to 7 plants. Wild blueberries, low bush, huckleberry grow in our state, but none are in my area due to the soil. I forage for blackberries, raspberries, and mulberries instead. Although I do grow domesticated cultivars too. For fun i breed blackberries, just starting, luckily some breeders have helped train me on proven methods. I just asked a couple of breeders for help and they were more than willing to help, even sending seeds and such. Very cool. Niceguy another question to the growers is what cultivars are they growing? That will give you an idea of what to plant. NHB, SHB, or rabbiteye.