my tayberry has no frost bud damage and we had -14c for almost a week here. There was some snow cover. But still i don’t think -5c is enough to kill tayberry buds.
where are you? or in what climate zone? (your profile does not have this info. Would be awesome if you filled it out 
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Hi, I thought I had my zone visible but that seems to have disappeared along with my profile picture. My zone is sub arctic z4. We got down to -33c (-30ish f) outdoors and I don’t know how cold it got inside the cellar. It seems like every other year there’s enough snow insulation so that the cellar stays above freezing, and years like this when it gets cold before heavy snow cover it can apparently get too cold. All my black raspberries in the cellar are growing just fine so it couldn’t have been that cold imo.
My recently planted TC from a 1 gal pot is super slow here in California. Not sure if it appreciates 95° days in early May.
Something is sprouting next to my Black Pearl. I think my Waldo might have survived after all!
I really need a better plan how to winter these properly. 100% cane death every year.
Does any one have Columbia Giant blackberry ripe yet?
Here’s an interesting article comparing Caddo to other University of Arkansas blackberries.
Interpret the results as you will.
Scientific question here…are all these commercial, thornless varieties cultivars of the North American Rubus canadensis, or Eurafrican Rubus ulmifolius?
OK, so after skimming this entire thread…here is how I would casually rank these erect varieties (based on flavor & SWD susceptibility):
Ponca - best since Caddo and Osage?
Caddo - similar (but just slighly better) taste as Osage, Ouachita, and Natchez but with bigger berries than Osage
Osage - second least hardy, but good flavor with less of a harsh edge that tastes better than Arapaho, Ouachita, and just under Triple Crown
Prime Ark Freedom - least hardy, but tastes better than Natchez and Arapaho with no harsh edge…but gets blander with heavy rains
Heaven Can Wait - good flavor…but not much else is known?
Ouachita - good all-around, but “decent” flavor ranging from not good to like store-bought or good (when duller black & mushy ripe)
Natchez - huge berries, but taste isn’t great
Triple Crown - best-tasting but susceptible to SWD
Columbia Star - massive but too tart according to some?
Does anyone know any more about Heaven Can Wait?
I would add Von to your list. I grow a fair number of blackberry varieties in NE Arkansas, and currently Von is my overall favorite variety because of its flavor, production, and strong, erect canes. I believe that others in this thread have also favorably commented on Von.
… in those climates. But when trialed here in southern California coastal-influenced climates, Arapahoe is a better blackberry than P.A.F.
Thanks for mentioning Von, I’m going to test it against my Arapahoe.
Yeah. Its a U of Ark variety from about a decade ago that didnt make the cut in their trials. Gurneys put the trademark name on A-1960 a patented cultivar.
Nobody puts Apache on their lists anymore… I rank it as very high in my list. Super erect, very big tasty berries. A fine plant.
I pulled all of my triple crowns and all but 1 Chester.
If thats what you think then look at Galaxy. Its an early fruiting Triple Crown developed by Chad Finn who was one of the creators of Triple Crown.
The pedigree of Galaxy is a bit more complex than Triple Crown…and even has triple crown as a parent. Added to the mix of Triple Crowns excellent parentage he added Illini Hardy. So Galaxy has parentage of Darrow, Chester, Triple Crown, Hull, Illini Hardy etc. It was built for the East Coast. and colder climates.
It should be a very desirable berry if you have any kind of liking to Triple Crowns vigor, yield and taste…but Earlier and a bit cold hardier.
Interesting observation. We grow Von and like it too but it’s later than most of the Arkansas floricane varieties except for Navaho. Von is a NC State introduction from about 20 years ago from a Navaho parent. Von has smaller seeds just like Navaho which some folks notice.
Ponca produced a lot of positive customer comments last year. The previous customer favorite was Navaho but after about 12 years the orange rust was out of control on Navaho and we removed the plants to help protect the other varieties.
lt
Fortunately we have noticed a decline in problems from SWD over the last 5 years
Should have enough fruit to evaluate Galaxy, Eclipse and Twilight next year but I believe the heat in my area may be a problem. I understand some field trials have been conducted in my state but I have not been able to get any information so far so I’m going to have to rely on my 2 plant test on each variety.
probably not what you want to grow being a thorned and trailing variety. But Silvan would be a good one. Bred in Australia from Marion, Logan and Boysen, Himalayan etc. It will likely outyield any west coast variety. My plants are babies… i have very high hopes for them.
Yep. I saw the plants growing at the upper piedmont research station about 30 miles from my farm before they were released to the public. Dr Ballington used to drop by my place on his way to the upper piedmont farm before he retired.
That research farm was a great place to visit since the soil and climate there is much like mine but that research farm is now closed. At one point they had raspberry and blueberry trials there too.
NC State has a new blackberry in the que which is a combination of Von and Galaxy. Called NC 740 at the moment.
Dr Fernandez talks about NC740, Eclipse, Galaxy and Twilight Video starting about 8 minutes.
new blackberry in the que which is a combination of Von and Galaxy. Called NC 740
Any follow-up on NC 740 & Galaxy?
None at this time.
I’m trying to get some more info from the local extension agent who has a direct line into the research.
The PHD folks are busy and don’t always answer my email inquiry.
just planted one this spring. i should have some to try next summer about a foot of snow and a heavy synthetic blacket on them now so should survive through winter just fine. ill post results when i have them on here.
Where’s the best online source to get Von, Ponca, Caddo, or Osage Blackberries? Anyone???
