First of all, I am a newbie too.

My Chinese Lanterns died last winter.

Lily of the Valley grows really well, almost invasive, in my garden.

I cannot find any table grape that's hardy to our zone (4). My parents have some in their garden. The squirrels always eat them first, we get the left overs.

Ying

Check out the Minnesota Extension service site listed below--a very good resource.

Some things you might be able to do if you have time:
1) Get your soil tested. Blueberries have some specific soil requirements and you can amend your soil accordingly.
2) Look into "lasagna gardening." If you have time, you might be able to get some planting beds ready for next spring using this method. Do an internet search.
3) Start making compost--save your leaves, grass clippings, perhaps some kitchen scraps.
4) Sign up for some catalogs (again, internet search). Winter is a great time to dream and pick out plant varieties. Most catalogs will start arriving in January, some may come for fall.
5) Speaking of fall, you can plant some tulips or daffodils, or other spring bulbs.
6) Go to the library and check out the great gardening books. You may find some you will want to buy for your permanent garden library. There are books specific to perennials, the Minnesota area, native plants, whatever.
7) Watch for any end-of-season plants sales--you might find a bargain that you can plant in a "temporary" spot until you get your planting beds ready.

I have a hardy Jungs "King of the North" grape. It is not a great table grape, but it makes very good juice (and lots of it). There are techniques to grow grapes in the North--the extension service probably has some good information on that, too.

Oh good! Another gardener!

A.

Here is a link that might be useful: UMN Extension

Plan, plan, and plan some more! (This includes research.) You will save yourself time, money, disappointment, frustration, and aching muscles!

~The Voice of Experience :-D

Chinese lanterns can become very invasive, if you really want to plant them, find a spot with the poorest, leanest soil and that may keep them in check. I've had Worden grapes for several years, Van Buren has done fairly well(I lost one). I have a couple of others too, but can't think of the names right now. Haven't found a really good table grape but those I mentioned make a great juice or jelly.
Blueberries need an acid soil, so depending on your soil ph you may have to do quite a bit of amending. Hoghaven gave you some great places to start your research. You may also want to make a visit the MN Landscape Arboretum.

I second the plan part. Take your time. The biggest mistake is planting before you plan.

If you want any hard scape, patio etc. do it first or you end up digging out the plants to do it later.
You might want to consider an irrigation system rather than having to drag hoses around. This is easier before the plants.

I garden using a modified lasagna method because I don't have a source nor can I wait to do it the "right" way.

Here is what I do to start a new bed.

1. Use a garden hose to lay out the shape
2. Cover with several (5 or more) layers of newspaper, make sure they overlap. (right over the grass it is smothered out by the newspaper.)
3. Cover this with 3-4" of farm post. I use horse manure ground up with bedding straw that I get for free from the Canterbury Race Track.
4. You can plant into it right away by moving the compost and cutting the newspaper where you want to plant and then tucking it back around the plant. or
Water and wait until you are ready. Next spring if you wish.

Really truly as much as you want to start right away think it out first. The hardest part of putting in a garden where I am now was to wait a whole year to plant anything other than annuals. I did get the hard scape in, but now I am trying to figure out how to retro fit a Sprinkler system.

You might want to look into winter sowing. It is a great way to get lot's of plants for not a lot of money or work.

If you are in the Twin Cities feel free to e-mail me and come over. I will show you the beds I put in with the quick method and winter sowing.

I also have plants that need splitting up.

I am in South Minneapolis.

Emily,
Are you anywhere close to Apple Valley?? I have some lily of the valley I want to dig up and you could have it.

Mary

I just moved into a new home this Spring and discovered that I am a Garden Geek! I love to be out weeding and digging and finding new plants!!
My advice to you is find yourself an old fishtank with a light,wrap the sides in foil, fill it up with empty toilet paper tubes pointing up and fill those with potting soil and use this to plant the seeds you want to put in your garden next year. It really works great as a mini green house. I kept the light on about 12 hours a day starting late March. When spring comes-no need to buy all the plants-you have them right there and ready to go in.

If you are near St. Cloud, let me know-I have some plants to start you out!