diff --git a/azure/storage/blob/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/azure/storage/blob/AzureBlobConnection.java b/azure/storage/blob/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/azure/storage/blob/AzureBlobConnection.java
index f5d662cfce..04c79fa566 100644
--- a/azure/storage/blob/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/azure/storage/blob/AzureBlobConnection.java
+++ b/azure/storage/blob/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/azure/storage/blob/AzureBlobConnection.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ package org.jclouds.azure.storage.blob;
 import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
 import java.util.concurrent.Future;
 
+import javax.ws.rs.DELETE;
 import javax.ws.rs.GET;
 import javax.ws.rs.PUT;
 import javax.ws.rs.Path;
@@ -87,4 +88,48 @@ public interface AzureBlobConnection {
    @Query(key = "restype", value = "container")
    boolean createContainer(@PathParam("container") String container,
             CreateContainerOptions... options);
+
+   /**
+    * The Delete Container operation marks the specified container for deletion. The container and
+    * any blobs contained within it are later deleted during garbage collection.
+    * <p/>
+    * When a container is deleted, a container with the same name cannot be created for at least 30
+    * seconds; the container may not be available for more than 30 seconds if the service is still
+    * processing the request. While the container is being deleted, attempts to create a container
+    * of the same name will fail with status code 409 (Conflict), with the service returning
+    * additional error information indicating that the container is being deleted. All other
+    * operations, including operations on any blobs under the container, will fail with status code
+    * 404 (Not Found) while the container is being deleted.
+    * 
+    */
+   @DELETE
+   @Path("{container}")
+   @Query(key = "restype", value = "container")
+   boolean deleteContainer(@PathParam("container") String container);
+
+   /**
+    * The root container is a default container that may be inferred from a URL requesting a blob
+    * resource. The root container makes it possible to reference a blob from the top level of the
+    * storage account hierarchy, without referencing the container name.
+    * <p/>
+    * The container resource includes metadata and properties for that container. It does not
+    * include a list of the blobs contained by the container.
+    * 
+    * @see CreateContainerOptions
+    * 
+    */
+   @PUT
+   @Path("$root")
+   @Query(key = "restype", value = "container")
+   boolean createRootContainer(CreateContainerOptions... options);// TODO public is not supported!
+
+   /**
+    * 
+    * @see deleteContainer(String)
+    * @see createRootContainer(CreateContainerOptions)
+    */
+   @DELETE
+   @Path("$root")
+   @Query(key = "restype", value = "container")
+   boolean deleteRootContainer();
 }
diff --git a/azure/storage/blob/core/src/test/java/org/jclouds/azure/storage/blob/AzureBlobConnectionLiveTest.java b/azure/storage/blob/core/src/test/java/org/jclouds/azure/storage/blob/AzureBlobConnectionLiveTest.java
index 939e1cc9b7..5e229f3267 100644
--- a/azure/storage/blob/core/src/test/java/org/jclouds/azure/storage/blob/AzureBlobConnectionLiveTest.java
+++ b/azure/storage/blob/core/src/test/java/org/jclouds/azure/storage/blob/AzureBlobConnectionLiveTest.java
@@ -7,10 +7,12 @@ import java.lang.reflect.UndeclaredThrowableException;
 import java.net.URL;
 import java.security.SecureRandom;
 
+import org.jclouds.azure.storage.AzureStorageResponseException;
 import org.jclouds.azure.storage.blob.domain.ContainerMetadataList;
 import org.jclouds.azure.storage.blob.options.CreateContainerOptions;
 import org.jclouds.azure.storage.options.ListOptions;
 import org.jclouds.azure.storage.reference.AzureStorageConstants;
+import org.jclouds.http.HttpResponseException;
 import org.jclouds.logging.log4j.config.Log4JLoggingModule;
 import org.jclouds.util.Utils;
 import org.testng.annotations.BeforeGroups;
@@ -65,8 +67,9 @@ public class AzureBlobConnectionLiveTest {
             created = connection.createContainer(privateContainer, CreateContainerOptions.Builder
                      .withMetadata(ImmutableMultimap.of("foo", "bar")));
          } catch (UndeclaredThrowableException e) {
-            // HttpResponseException htpe = (HttpResponseException) e.getCause().getCause();
-            // TODO: check if already created and see what the error is, and continue
+            HttpResponseException htpe = (HttpResponseException) e.getCause().getCause();
+            if (htpe.getResponse().getStatusCode() == 409)
+               continue;
             throw e;
          }
       }
@@ -86,8 +89,9 @@ public class AzureBlobConnectionLiveTest {
             created = connection.createContainer(publicContainer, CreateContainerOptions.Builder
                      .withPublicAcl());
          } catch (UndeclaredThrowableException e) {
-            // HttpResponseException htpe = (HttpResponseException) e.getCause().getCause();
-            // TODO: check if already created and see what the error is, and continue
+            HttpResponseException htpe = (HttpResponseException) e.getCause().getCause();
+            if (htpe.getResponse().getStatusCode() == 409)
+               continue;
             throw e;
          }
       }
@@ -97,6 +101,30 @@ public class AzureBlobConnectionLiveTest {
       Utils.toStringAndClose(url.openStream());
    }
 
+   @Test(timeOut = 5 * 60 * 1000)
+   public void testCreatePublicRootContainer() throws Exception {
+      try {
+         connection.deleteRootContainer();
+      } catch (Exception e) {
+         // don't care.. we wish to recreate it.
+      }
+      boolean created = false;
+      while (!created) {
+         try {
+            created = connection.createRootContainer();
+         } catch (UndeclaredThrowableException e) {
+            AzureStorageResponseException htpe = (AzureStorageResponseException) e.getCause()
+                     .getCause();
+            if (htpe.getError().getCode().equals("ContainerBeingDeleted")) {
+               Thread.sleep(5000);
+               continue;
+            }
+            throw e;
+         }
+      }
+      // TODO check if it really exists.
+   }
+
    @Test
    public void testListContainersWithOptions() throws Exception {
 
@@ -107,6 +135,19 @@ public class AzureBlobConnectionLiveTest {
       assertTrue(initialContainerCount >= 0);
       assertEquals(privateContainer, response.getPrefix());
       assertEquals(1, response.getMaxResults());
+   }
 
+   @Test(timeOut = 5 * 60 * 1000, dependsOnMethods = { "testCreateContainer",
+            "testCreatePublicContainer" })
+   public void testDeleteContainer() throws Exception {
+      assert connection.deleteContainer(privateContainer);
+      assert connection.deleteContainer(publicContainer);
+      // TODO loop for up to 30 seconds checking if they are really gone
+   }
+
+   @Test(timeOut = 5 * 60 * 1000, dependsOnMethods = { "testCreatePublicRootContainer" })
+   public void testDeleteRootContainer() throws Exception {
+      assert connection.deleteRootContainer();
+      // TODO loop for up to 30 seconds checking if they are really gone
    }
 }
diff --git a/azure/storage/blob/core/src/test/java/org/jclouds/azure/storage/blob/AzureBlobConnectionTest.java b/azure/storage/blob/core/src/test/java/org/jclouds/azure/storage/blob/AzureBlobConnectionTest.java
index 6669189f5a..546a563ee8 100644
--- a/azure/storage/blob/core/src/test/java/org/jclouds/azure/storage/blob/AzureBlobConnectionTest.java
+++ b/azure/storage/blob/core/src/test/java/org/jclouds/azure/storage/blob/AzureBlobConnectionTest.java
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ public class AzureBlobConnectionTest {
       assertEquals(processor.createExceptionParserOrNullIfNotFound(method), null);
    }
 
-   public void testCreateContainers() throws SecurityException, NoSuchMethodException {
+   public void testCreateContainer() throws SecurityException, NoSuchMethodException {
       Method method = AzureBlobConnection.class.getMethod("createContainer", String.class,
                createContainerOptionsVarargsClass);
       URI endpoint = URI.create("http://localhost");
@@ -101,7 +101,24 @@ public class AzureBlobConnectionTest {
       assertEquals(processor.createExceptionParserOrNullIfNotFound(method), null);
    }
 
-   public void testCreateContainersOptions() throws SecurityException, NoSuchMethodException {
+   public void testDeleteContainer() throws SecurityException, NoSuchMethodException {
+      Method method = AzureBlobConnection.class.getMethod("deleteContainer", String.class);
+      URI endpoint = URI.create("http://localhost");
+      HttpRequest httpMethod = processor.createRequest(endpoint, method,
+               new Object[] { "container" });
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getEndpoint().getHost(), "localhost");
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getEndpoint().getPath(), "/container");
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getEndpoint().getQuery(), "restype=container");
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getMethod(), HttpMethod.DELETE);
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getHeaders().size(), 1);
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getHeaders().get("x-ms-version"), Collections
+               .singletonList("2009-07-17"));
+      assertEquals(processor.createResponseParser(method).getClass(), ReturnTrueIf2xx.class);
+      // TODO check generic type of response parser
+      assertEquals(processor.createExceptionParserOrNullIfNotFound(method), null);
+   }
+
+   public void testCreateContainerOptions() throws SecurityException, NoSuchMethodException {
       Method method = AzureBlobConnection.class.getMethod("createContainer", String.class,
                createContainerOptionsVarargsClass);
       URI endpoint = URI.create("http://localhost");
@@ -123,6 +140,62 @@ public class AzureBlobConnectionTest {
       assertEquals(processor.createExceptionParserOrNullIfNotFound(method), null);
    }
 
+   public void testCreateRootContainer() throws SecurityException, NoSuchMethodException {
+      Method method = AzureBlobConnection.class.getMethod("createRootContainer",
+               createContainerOptionsVarargsClass);
+      URI endpoint = URI.create("http://localhost");
+      HttpRequest httpMethod = processor.createRequest(endpoint, method, new Object[] {});
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getEndpoint().getHost(), "localhost");
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getEndpoint().getPath(), "/$root");
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getEndpoint().getQuery(), "restype=container");
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getMethod(), HttpMethod.PUT);
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getHeaders().size(), 2);
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getHeaders().get("x-ms-version"), Collections
+               .singletonList("2009-07-17"));
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getHeaders().get("Content-Length"), Collections.singletonList("0"));
+      assertEquals(processor.createResponseParser(method).getClass(), ReturnTrueIf2xx.class);
+      // TODO check generic type of response parser
+      assertEquals(processor.createExceptionParserOrNullIfNotFound(method), null);
+   }
+
+   public void testDeleteRootContainer() throws SecurityException, NoSuchMethodException {
+      Method method = AzureBlobConnection.class.getMethod("deleteRootContainer");
+      URI endpoint = URI.create("http://localhost");
+      HttpRequest httpMethod = processor.createRequest(endpoint, method, new Object[] {});
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getEndpoint().getHost(), "localhost");
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getEndpoint().getPath(), "/$root");
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getEndpoint().getQuery(), "restype=container");
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getMethod(), HttpMethod.DELETE);
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getHeaders().size(), 1);
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getHeaders().get("x-ms-version"), Collections
+               .singletonList("2009-07-17"));
+      assertEquals(processor.createResponseParser(method).getClass(), ReturnTrueIf2xx.class);
+      // TODO check generic type of response parser
+      assertEquals(processor.createExceptionParserOrNullIfNotFound(method), null);
+   }
+
+   public void testCreateRootContainerOptions() throws SecurityException, NoSuchMethodException {
+      Method method = AzureBlobConnection.class.getMethod("createRootContainer",
+               createContainerOptionsVarargsClass);
+      URI endpoint = URI.create("http://localhost");
+      HttpRequest httpMethod = processor.createRequest(endpoint, method,
+               new Object[] { withPublicAcl().withMetadata(ImmutableMultimap.of("foo", "bar")) });
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getEndpoint().getHost(), "localhost");
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getEndpoint().getPath(), "/$root");
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getEndpoint().getQuery(), "restype=container");
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getMethod(), HttpMethod.PUT);
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getHeaders().size(), 4);
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getHeaders().get("x-ms-version"), Collections
+               .singletonList("2009-07-17"));
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getHeaders().get("x-ms-meta-foo"), Collections.singletonList("bar"));
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getHeaders().get("x-ms-prop-publicaccess"), Collections
+               .singletonList("true"));
+      assertEquals(httpMethod.getHeaders().get("Content-Length"), Collections.singletonList("0"));
+      assertEquals(processor.createResponseParser(method).getClass(), ReturnTrueIf2xx.class);
+      // TODO check generic type of response parser
+      assertEquals(processor.createExceptionParserOrNullIfNotFound(method), null);
+   }
+
    JaxrsAnnotationProcessor processor;
 
    @BeforeClass