I hear you...was getting tired of irrigation bills. This spring has been very dry and unusually warm.

Do you have any trouble with birds? I have this mockingbird coming and eating all my almost-ready berries and that thing is picky... it rips off a whole cluster of them and spits out the green ones since they are too sour! hah. That bird has no shame, I caught it chasing one of the hawks that stays in the forest behind our house; it also chirps at me loudly when I chase it away! Ripped my sole almost-ripe boysenberry the other day too...

Happy,

Where are you located? Luckily no mockingbirds in my neighborhood. The Cardinals do take some berries but it is just the local birds and that is ok with me. I think the reason I have no bird problems is there are two big commercial blueberry fields, probably 50 or 60 acres total close by and the birds just go there. If I did have bird problems I would try to scare them off and if that failed I would give them lead poisoning.

Right on Bam, we have had so much rain this spring we are offically out of the drought in Houston!!! Good to know that Windsor splits with heavy rain. I know Oneil is suppost to do the same and thats why I didnt buy it. Looks like I will have to isolate Windsor and cover them once the berries turn color next spring. Ive been getting a hand full of berries the last 3 weeks. Ive had a hard time waiting to taste the blues. The longest Ive let one stay on the bush is 6 days but I could tell a difference, it was sweeter. So far my favorite have been Emerald. They are the size of Quarters and delicious. Ive tasted Bountiful, Gulfcoast, Sunshine and Emerald. Also had 8 early berries on Powderblue, alittle grainy comparied to SHB but still very much edible! Emerald and Sunshine are about to ripen a lot of berries. Ive got 1 Sweetcrisp berry thats been blue for 3 days now. I might have to sample it in the morning when I get off work! Cant wait man!!!

I have a family of mocking birds at my house. They will rob your blueberries and strawberries. I covered my plants this year with bird netting and its worked like a charm.

Bamboo Rabbit! In RI, it finally rained yesterday. We have had no rain in over a month and our average is down 7 inches. We have been on drought alert. My new trees and older trees loved the water and could finally enjoy some of this years fertilizer. The weather has been so weird.

Blueboy,

Glad your plants are doing well and I know what you mean about it being hard to wait. My Emeralds this year are not doing so well..the berries are quite small and kind of bland. I am chalking it up to the weird weather and warm winter.

MrsG,

Same her, we have not had any rain to amount to anything in 6 weeks. Even the weeds were wilting. Granted Florida does not get much rain this time of year anyway but even for us it was dry. Guess the rain we got is not dropping snow on PA and NY.