Our blueberries have survived many trials already, most notably a fire I caused about four years ago that killed all but one of them back to the ground. They slowly recovered from that, though it took them a while.

By mid-March this year the blueberries had responded to the warm late winter temperatures and were fully in bloom. It would have been perhaps a banner year for blueberries, but we know only that this left them totally vulnerable when a late season freeze took the mercury down to 24 degrees on the morning of the 16th.

The blueberries got clobbered. We have a few berries this year, but nothing like a normal crop. I can’t tell you whether it’s related to the freeze, but one of our tifblues is showing signs of inexorable decline. My guess is that if I had left it alone, it probably would have died eventually. Today I decided to remove all the weak and declining tissue and see if I can give the little guy a chance of surviving.