Anybody growing blackberries, like Arapaho or Navaho? Any favorite varieties? The wild blackerry patches I used to pick from have been mostly cleaned up as fences get torn down, so I'm thinking about starting my own. Are there any really good thornless varieties?
Thanks,
Harry
I've grown thornless Boysenberries and they didn't perform worth a hoot
for me. I'm looking at the same berries you are to replace the
Boysenberries and some non-performing Dorman raspberries. Arapaho and
Navaho are given top ratings by TAMU for zones 8 - 5 IIRC. I'm looking
for thornless for my area, zone 9b. So, a neighbor 40 years ago grew
thornless Thompson blackberries that got as big as my thumb, say two
inches long and one inch in diameter and were very prolific. I've been
sort of checking the local nurseries that deal in fruit and brambles to
see if I can find a dozen plants but looks like I will have to order.
Keep us posted on what you find Harry.
George
Harry Boswell wrote:
Hi Harry. Just last year we planted a Doyle's Thornless Blackberry.
It was a gift. We've never grown blackberries before. It's a little
soon for me to give you a personal experience about the fruit. We've
placed the plant next to a 7 foot post for support since it is a
trailing variety and hopefully we can keep it in bounds. From what
I've read, one of these mature plants will produce at least 10
gallons of berries each year. This year's new canes should produce
next year's crop. It grows in Z 3-10 and bears 4-6 weeks.
Look for Doyle's Thornless Blackberry at www.fruitsandberries.com.
They are located in Washington, Indiana. I have no affiliation with
these folks and hope that the berries are as good as advertised.
Linda in NW Ohio.
--
Linda, gardening in NW Ohio near Toledo / Lake Erie (USDA Zone 5)
Metrofarm known as Blue Clay Plantation
llbs@accesstoledo.com
blueclay2@accesstoledo.com
I've been growing Arapaho for about 3 years. I just learned how to prune
them last year so I'm hoping I'll get a better crop this year. They grow
fairly fast and increase nicely. They are nowhere near as sweet as wild
berries, however. When they took the thorns off they also removed the
sugar ;-)
HTH,
Barbara
George Shirley wrote:
Very good point, I hadn't thought about the seed size.
I wish I could grow raspberries, I love 'em, but the Deep South and raspberries don't do so well together. There's Dorman Red, but I hear they don't taste very good.
Harry B
I have Dorman Red, not prolific at all, taste is non-existent, and they
have thorns from hell. The vines grow pretty good but they're a real
pain for the crop you get.
George
Harry Boswell wrote:
I had some great thornless blackberries that produced really well... but
we couldn't deal with the size and quantity of the seeds. They weren't
much fun on cereal or eaten by the handful, because you got so many
seeds stuck in your teeth. Even for jam, eventually I was using that
food mill (recommended by this list) to get seeds out.
I would let 2 or 3 canes bear fruit each year, weaving them around an
arbor against the back of the house. It was easy to care for that way.
End of season, I'd cut out the ones that bore fruit that season, and
select the nicest ones to let grow for the following year.
Anyway, we decided to pull them out last fall, and I put in some red
raspberries I got from a friend's garden. We also have some golden
raspberries going on their 3rd season that we really like the flavor of.
I guess this isn't particularly helpful info for helping you choose a
variety, but you might give some thought to seediness, as you're
shopping?
Peg in RI
Linda Baranowski-Smith
Sent: Monday, January 31, 2005 12:01 PM
To: GARDENS@LSV.UKY.EDU
Subject: Re: "Cultivated" blackberries
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