I live near Everett, Washington, and your heat units are considerably less in the summer so you probably don't want to plant anything that ripens later than mid September in our area. Forget the late apples, pears and plums. Chehalis and Alkmene (Alkemene) apples would be good for you, and they are also scab resistant. The early season scab immune apples are good, too. You are best off with the scab resistant varieties, I imagine you would have even more trouble with scab than we do, and we have plenty. Go ahead and put in a cherry tree or two, and see how they do. Some years you won't get any fruit and others you will. Get self fertile crack resistant varieties like Vandalay, which is from the Ontario research station so I know you can get it in Canada. The self fertile ones have better set in poor spring weather. Don't get any late pears unless you find someone in the area who has them and says they do OK. There are some good pears that ripen in the summer here, like Ubileen And Bella Di Guigno. Look in the Raintree catalog and anything that they say ripens by early September in pears and plums for them should be worth trying where you are. I don't know if you can order from Raintree, but it will give you some ideas to go on. I think Beauty asian plum would be worth trying for you even though it might not have as good of flavor as if it had more heat units. It does well here. I agree that berries are a good idea. I don't think humidity is your main problem, I think lack of heat units is a bigger concern. Humidity is more of a problem in very hot weather. You might have problems with some fungus though, like scab. Try to find out what other people in the area grow.

My description of huckleberry fruit assumed (perhaps wrongly) a member of the Vaccinium genus, based on momgardens1 living in zone 8, which is PNW territory. On closer inspection of the photo, a couple of things came into clearer focus: First, the leaves are wrong for V. ovatum (evergreen huckleberry); and second, the berries in the photo do seem to lack the obvious corymb remnants typical of the V. corymbosum species (highbush blueberries). The plant could be V. angustifolium (low bush blueberries) - doubtful because of the size reported (lowbush called that because they don't grow as high as the 'highbush' from what I've been told), or a cross-cultivar of high and lowbush, something that is quite common in the nursery trade in developing cultivars that combine the best traits of both species. - Or it could be Gaylussacia, which I can't speak to at all reliably. I do know that highbush and lowbush blueberries are the species most common in cultivation and the most commonly available nationwide through commercial sources. If the plant was bought at a nursery, it's probably one of those two, or a cross-cultivar between the two, but which cultivar it is may never be known. I'd advise momgardens1 to wait until it blooms next year, then go to the nursery and see what else is blooming at that time, and that might get her close to an ID. And while I was there, I would buy 2 or 3 more cultivars that are blooming at the same time to plant near it, because 'blueberries' (V. corymbosum and V. angustifolium, maybe more) have increased yields when planted with different cultivars vs. plants of the same cultivar.

I have several tuliptree and black walnut seedlings to trade. I am interested in trading for serviceberries, blueberries and huckleberries, bur oaks and sourwoods. I realize we will have to wait until the trees go dormant. Shane

I can well appreciate the scope of what this thread is all about. It is disheartening as I have seen some very fantastic spots where native violets and peonies grew and endemic ceanothus and manzanitas flourished end up being stripped clear of all the vegetation. It comes as a shock if you are not visiting the area often. The feeling is almost like being that of rape. It violates your memories and your conscience of just where is it all headed. Are there really any pristine spots left! Yet what is a person to do. It takes time and that means money as well. With a helter-skelter life no one person can do it unless you are totally rich and have the bucks to spare to take actions such as buying up the property. That is what folks like the Nature Conservancy are doing. This is probably the only way but on an individual effort one can begin the ball rolling. See a spot worth saving. Plants worth protecting or removing to safe spots or to native plant nurseries for cultivation. Then take images!!! Develop a jpg webjournal. That is use WordPerfect and load your images onto the page and make your comments and then print those babies out and mail them to the local governments. With jpg files you can email them to the local governments. Inform the persons who can control the use of property even that of private property. The biggest problem facing the protection of endangered plants comes from private ownership laws. It is my property and I will do what I want. This is the way of the White Man! Maybe it goes way back to medieval days where even people were property of powerful lords who did what they wanted to whomever they wanted to! But look now. Is not the federal government being turned towards this feudalistic attitude about the vanishing American wilderness? Teddy Roosevelt would turn over in his grave if he saw what the current administration and the other feudal lords are trying to do to America in the name of protecting it! Protecting that which is cherished falls under that "pursuit of happiness" clause. It is an obligation for all citizens and for all levels of government. Yet who teaches citizenship anymore? Again-take the images-write the journals-send them to the appropriate government-let them know so there is at least an acknowledgment of the fact that this plant or this spot of earth has enough merit to do something to redeem it!