... is the report on those blueberry bushes I bought back in the spring. They were remarkably productive for being so small, and seemed to be doing well, settling in, adjusting to their new home. I deliberately choose three different varieties, understanding that would provide a harvest over a longer period of time. One was an early bloomer, one mid-season, and the third one would bloom and produce fruit towards the end of the normal berry picking season.
But it's been so unusually, frightfully dry here for the past couple of months, I might have lost one of them. I thought I was being careful, and conscientious. When I noticed one of the plants beginning to loose some leaves, I mulched well to hold in moisture, and started to be more faithful with the garden hose. They are not in full sun, so do get some shade early and late in the day, which is helpful.
Having left the job to mother nature early in the year once they were out of pots, planted and settled into their new location, there was a period of time when I felt they were almost getting enough from rains. But when I went to look several weeks ago, I realized I had been neglectful. I've been more diligent in the past couple of weeks. I feel foolish pouring water onto a plant that is completely brown, without the first sign of life - but I am hoping I got to it before it completely went south. And that it will come back from the roots, begin to sprout and grow again in the spring.
Makes me sad to think I let one die, and may to have reduced the potential harvest by one-third. I heard a reference to someone on public radio as being 'congenitially optimistic', and would like to believe I have some degree of that. I choose to believe the blueberry plant is not completely dead, just 'nearly dead', as was the actor in the "Princess Bride" movie that Billy Crystal brought back to life with the blacksmith's bellows.
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