Feeling Fruity

Our raspberry plants when they were first planted, no leaves or anything.

 I heard that raspberries were difficult to grow in Southern California.  I did a bunch of research and found a variety called the "Bababerry" that's supposed to thrive in this sort of weather.  Of course, the makers of the Bababerry strain were no longer in business.  After doing more research, I found a woman (see the Hanbury House link) who had gotten a hold of the mysterious Bababerry and has been growing it for years.  I contacted her about getting my hands on some and she told me she'd put me on the waiting list (apparently, I'm not the only one out there nerding out on raspberry research).  Almost a year went by before I heard from her.  She had some plants she'd be happy to sell me.  So I jumped in my car and met her in a Starbucks parking lot in Long Beach.  I bought three plants from her, in the hopes that at least one would survive (I may love to garden, but more plants die under my care than survive).

Our raspberry plants now.  No raspberries yet, but a lot of growth.

For a while, there wasn't any growth.  Then, slowly, little green buds started to sprout.  They're looking good now.  I can't wait until they're all grown up!
Speaking of all grown up, last year I bought three blueberry plants with my friend Dawn.  I got two Jubilee varieties and one Misty variety.  Unfortunately, we lost one of the Jubilee's after putting it in the sunniest part of our garden.  It turns out that plants that like "full sun" actually want "a few hours of sun."  We put the remaining two plants into a shadier area, where they've really blossomed (literally).
We also have pomegranate, persimmon, tangerine, and lemon trees which are starting to grow.  They're still just babies and won't have fruit for a while, but when they do start to fruit.....mmmmm....salivating just thinking about it.

Young blueberry blossoms

Baby blueberries

Tangerine

Persimmon