Cara’s great but so are many others. Spartan is like what I think of when I think of blueberry flavor
Getting back to black raspberries I just saw a breakdown of nutrients and antioxidants that are off the chart. Not just more than reds but more than any other rubus species that are well known. It’s no doubt a super berry. The article noted that supplements do not work near as well as consuming the fruit. Unknown reasons why but clearly documented. Here some info, reds rock too. We should be eating raspberries daily!! https://foodsci.oregonstate.edu/berryhealth/fact-sheets/red-raspberries
My Jewel black-caps have been boldly flavored for 25+ years here. I juice the bulk of the crop, freeze in 2-cup containers, thaw and thicken with Clear-Jel. Eat as pudding or a topping. Very strong flavor. No tartness.
The main detriment of black raspberries, besides their tendency of succumbing to anthracnose in the humid northeast is the size of the seeds compared to red raspberries.
I lost interest in growing them because of the anthracnose and only grow Heritage red raspberries now as a foraging fruit. I also grow two types of thornless blackberries- Navajo and the newest release from that program whose name escapes me. Triple crown was almost as good as those two and probably notably more productive where I’ve grown it, but I like the added sweetness of the former.
They all have big seeds- I wish breeders could overcome that.
I’m not sure if it was posted here or I read it looking at something else, but it’s apparently more the hardness of the seeds rather than actual larger size. (I’m pretty sure it was about purple raspberry breeding?) I’ve never had fresh black raspberries, but the seeds in Anne are pretty annoying, so being even perceivably worse (whatever the reason) would probably put me off eating black raspberries fresh. They get stuck in my molars. Maybe I have weird teeth? Anyway, they make a really good jam though. I’m about ready to give up on everbearing strawberries, so I may replace them with more raspberries and leave room to grow another watermelon variety.
Each crown sent up 3 nice tall stout canes… well they sent up others which I pruned out to limit them to 3 per crown.
Those 3 each were very robust… i tipped them at 4.5 ft… and each one then sent out several nice stout fruiting laterals.
Between last fall (hot/dry spell) and low this winter of 2F… many of my raspberry canes suffered some tip die back (reds blacks golds).
But purple royalty all 6 canes had no problem at all. No dieback at all… those canes and laterals perfect healthy all the way to the tips of each fruiting lateral.
So far impressed with their vigor and tufness and how well they grow here.
I have heard that if when you pick them … past the red stage into the purple stage… they taste a little like black raspberry.
Will find out in another month or two here.
The Joan J i started last spring… produced a nice pcane early on which produced some nice fall berries… but the top half of it was dead this spring. It may not be tuf enough for southern TN.
Yes Drew. I am familliar with how everbearing raspberries work… i have several of those for many years now.
Normally just the part that fruited in the fall (typically top third) will die after fruiting.
But with JJ and several of my HR and Fall Golds the cane dieback went well below the the top 1/3 that fruited.
1/2 or in some cases 2/3 or more of the pcane died. Many of those HRs where 2/3 or more of the cane died… last fall they sent up some shoots from low on the cane that produced some smallish pcanes by late fall.
I think here in southern TN… our weather is just occasionally too harsh for raspberries. We have no native raspberries here.
Lots of blackberries but no raspberries. So I am forcing them to grow in a location that they do not normally grow in.
Some irrigation last summer, early fall might have helped…
I have mulched all raspberry beds extra good this spring. They are sending up lots of new pcanes already. Hopefully a better fall crop and pcane survival rate this year.
Ok sorry, it just so common that the life cycle confuses people. Yeah not sure why that happened. Mine are growing have leaves and we get lows of 20F and the plants are perfectly fine. Growing in freezing weather. Garlic always amazes me. Its been growing for a month or more now. Up even before daffodils. Maybe it’s a loss of hardiness from warm daytime temps? Warm here right now is 50. It hasn’t been that warm here since last fall. In the fall at 50 we put our coats on. In the spring when it gets to 50 we take our jackets off.
I’ve not yet seen it get too cold here in Northeast Tennessee to affect wild black cap raspberries… Which we have tons of FYI.
They taste great but are small, so I’ve gotten Jewel and tip rooted a few more of last fall. From previous conversation in this thread might have to source Bristol as well.
@wdingus … so it was probably not our 2F that caused the cane dieback. Our hot late summer early fall period probably too much for them.
TN is such a long state… and west middle and east are quite different. I can see you all over there in the Mountains of East TN having some wild blacks.
Never seen any wild raspberries in middle or west TN though.
PS… I started 2 Bristol Blacks last spring… a dang Armadillo killed one of them.
Our native Red raspberries are extremely hardy, but they can’t handle the heat. They are found naturally in only a few spots above 3000 ft in East Tennessee. Black raspberries are common across much of Middle Tennessee*, but I think a lot of people confuse them with blackberries. They ripen in early to mid June, well before most blackberries.
Edit: except for areas with acidic soils
The are lots of non-native red raspberries (Wineberries) taking over parts of Middle TN. They are an invasive species from Asia.
The horizontal training and heavy pruning of black rasp canes can make some difference in production…just like it does on fruit trees. This is Bristol. Lower laterals are all removed so that all energy goes toward fruiting on the top 1/3 that is just above the top wire. 1 cane is all that you need for a nice harvest per plant… Something to consider and YMMV. This is from an online friend of mine that told me to try one plant if i dont believe it… i do. I think alot of the old ways of pruning and trellising need another look for those willing to try something different.
If i may ask…were those canes tied to wire? Asking because i think i figured out my cold damage issue… My practice was pruning when dormant in december and tying up things then. When i did not prune anything until late Feb/early March then tying then i had no cold damage on ones that were cold hardy to my zone. Of course i had cold damage on some things that im zone pushing on. You say you lost all of your thornless Logans to cold damage i think? I lost all but one plant and that was the one that i did not prune or tie. Maybe coincidence? But my theory which is not scientific at all is that that wire being metal somehow gets colder? or something. So i have a way going forward that i am putting baling twine a foot below my top wire and resting canes on that… then bring them up to the top wire when pruning in late Feb/March… after the threat is gone from deep winter.
Again this is all my trial and error and no science or any kind of intelligence… just thinking out loud to possibly ease an issue. YMMV.
The only black raspberries I grow are primocane fruiting. I’m still testing pruning methods. I can say these are really robust and I have a net over them to protect my blueberries. They fall under the net and if I let them grow they run into the net. I have to pinch them or head them not to go into the net. Messed up my experiments in pruning. The good news is no matter how I prune them they produce pretty dang well. To get very large berries don’t prune. It makes the largest berries. Seems to me so far is that the fruit mass is about the same pruning or not. Pruning makes for more berries but they are smaller. Both appear to produce the same weight in berries. Laterals will grow on unpruned canes. Not always though. I could be wrong in this. I have grown pruned and unpruned canes right next to each other. They sure look like the same amount of fruit mass. If not it’s close enough to go either way. So if one year you forget to prune no big deal.
