Update on blackberry winter survival (three weeks later)… Uncovered Plants - Black Satin (no winter damage). These were low to ground so maybe some snow protection. - Triple crown (some winter damage) - approx. 20% die back). Seem to have handled the winter fine but some dieback, primarily on the thinner canes). - Ouachita (some winter damage) - approx. 10% die back). Almost no dieback…surprising because I thought they would be less hardy than other erect varieties. - Kiowa (significant winter damage - approx. 75% die back). At first I thought these had overwintered well, but two of the four plants didn’t leaf out and the other two were significantly damaged. This variety has had some health problems over the last two years with (2 of 6 previously dying). Since this year’s crop was a loss and I have had problems with this variety in the past, I decided to replace them with a newer, thornless variety: Von Blackberry. - Prime Ark 45 (significant winter damage - approx. 50% die back). Honestly, some of the dieback may be from the primocane fruiting sections from last fall, but what is left seems to be growing well now. I think I’ll make these a primocane only crop after this season. - Wild Treasure Trailing. In ground planting - left uncovered and plant died back to ground. Potted planting (covered) lost most of its cane length. Given space and effort, not sure this variety is worth keeping. - All raspberries were uncovered and nearly all had no noticeable winter damage. I even had a blackhawk black raspberry and two double gold raspberry plants in pots just sitting in the open and both plants are growing really well and blooming. - I did have two canes on the Cascade Delight raspberry that died during the winter but I believe that was partly due to exposed roots from some soil erosion in their raised bed. Covered Plants. - Black Diamond. I decided to give it a reprieve and let it grow again this year but spray it for cane borers. I had to remove all of last year’s growth due to cane borers but this year it has three times as much growth (e.g. canes) and looks healthy. There’s already a 8” of growth this season and that’s a lot for this variety in my climate. - Siskiyou. No winter damage. Both plants look good and have been putting on amazing growth (well, at least amazing compared to my previous attempts). These second year plants each have 5 or more canes and the cane diameter has doubled since last year. The primocanes are already about ½ inch thick (e.g. diameter) and about 12” in length so far. Yeah! Last year’s growth is getting ready to bloom. - Kotata. No winter damage and the plants are growing new canes. I have 2-3 new canes per each plant and there’s about 6-8” of growth so far. Less vigorous growth from these plantings. - Thorny Boysenberry. The non-potted plants suffered the trifecta of cold weather, cane borers, and voles, so I have maybe 10% of the canes from last year but they are getting ready to bloom. I have had problems with leaf spot on these but I gave them a good lime-sulfur spray treatment this spring, so hopefully this will help. New growth has been outstanding with the cane diameter doubling, much like the Siskiyou blackberries, and there are 8-10 canes per planting with 12-18” of growth already. I’m going to do a better job of protecting these in the winter this year. - Marionberry. I lost about 50% of the cane length from the overwintering period but have learned more about what not to do while preparing them for winter. Plants seem fine but not as vigorous as Siskiyou or Boysen but more vigorous than Kotata. - Loganberry. I lost about 75% of the canes on these from cane borers and the cold. These may be the least cold hardy of the trailing berries that I own. The primocanes are growing vigorously though.

Dahlia growers on the Oregon coast have traditionally dug and divided their tubers in the Spring as they do not get enough cold to freeze dahlias in the ground. For the past two years in a row there have been cold snaps that have frozen tubers before Spring. Two years ago it happened in the first part of December and caught people by surprise. To be sure, dahlias should be dug and divided before the really cold weather. By the way, you do not have to wait for a killing frost, just cut off the stalks and dig a few days later. The eyes will have swollen and dividing will be very easy. Digging does not need to be done in freezing temperatures.

Hi Mary, I'm in Zone 5 here in New Hampshire. Being near a river, my soil is very sandy and well-drained, which is something you might want to address when planting - many herbs can take the cold, but will die if they have 'wet feet.' Dessicating winds from the northwest all winter might be another problem - they can make the temps feel at least one zone colder. Good mulching will be important, but not so much that the plants stay wet and rot. It is a balancing act. If possible, you might want to take some cuttings, pot them up, and try to overwinter them indoors, in case the outside plants bite the dust. Having said (written?) that, here are some perennial herbs that I have in the ground: Reliably come back: Lemon thyme English thyme Creeping/wooly thymes (ornamentals, not culinary) Winter savory French tarragon Chives Garlic chives Egyptian onion All spearmints and peppermints (e.g. apple, chocolate, Kentucky Colonel) Munstead lavender Roman chamomile Comfrey (medicinal, not culinary) Sorrel Rue Herbs that usually come back, but did not last year (not very cold [-8F] but little snow cover and lots of freezing rain and exposure to winds): Berggarten sage Salad burnet French thyme Greek oregano Herbs that have never come back: Varietal thymes (e.g. caraway, orange spice) Rosemary (even the 'cold hardy' varieties, like Arp & Hill Hardy) Other sages (e.g tricolor, purple) Other oreganos (e.g. syrian, cretan, italian) narcnh

Well, the good news is being in Elk Grove you can grow pretty much any vegetable your little heart desires. The sun in winter could be a problem for winter veggies. Leafy greens are easy to grow as a winter vegetable in your area (chard, kale, pak choi .. I have all 3 growing now under row cover and I'm a few zones colder than you). You can keep many herbs growing over winter (parsley, chives, oregano, marjoram). These can all be easily grown in part sun. But, they must get some sun. If some area back there does get some sun, you might plan your vegetable bed layout with one bed in the winter sunny spot and just plan to cover the additional beds over winter.