Here, the soil is on the alkaline side. The peat is to acidify the soil somewhat. A small application of soil sulfur every year is another acidifier.

A balanced fertilizer wouldn't hurt.

Here, mine push out their new foliage in September, so late August is a good time to fertilize.

Bird netting or the like. I made hardware cloth cylinders for mine that I lift off to harvest the fruit.

Hopefully you got the right cultivars for Southern California. What grows well in Canada probably will struggle here.

Came across this useful page which gives chill hours, flavor, height, etc. in chart form.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.fallcreeknursery.com/nursery/variety/nursery_southern-highbush

Peat acidifies the soil, as mentioned above. Cottonseed meal is a good fertilizer for blueberries.

The link below has information on growing blueberries in Southern California, as well as information about pruning. If you visit Orange County, check out the Farm and Food Lab at the Great Park in Irvine. There is a demonstration garden there with blueberries growing in containers.

Here is a link that might be useful: Growing berries