I’ve gotten wrong plants from Pense before and won’t order from them again.
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I often receive Rubus stoolings like that from propagation nurseries.
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I emailed him, he said that Horizon is “semi-thornless” and I might not see any thorns until it starts growing… not sure if that’s accurate or not. Can someone with Horizon chime in?
They are among the 1,035 Rubus specimens maintained by NCGR Corvallis.
I think i have received the wrong plants from Pense 3 times…and recently posted about their poor quality control.
Well the canes in your picture have grown and that isnt accurate.
Here is what those canes should look like-
Mine has sent up suckers and the spines are evident even when young.
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I just emailed the University of Arkansas and let them know that Pense is using their Horizon branding on something that obviously isn’t Horizon
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I was gonna receive Hillquist in my recent shipment, but it was among those that didn’t produce enough propagation material (along with some tetraploid raspberries, including the “Giant Raspberry of Jilin”). I was given the “go ahead” to request it again for the upcoming season.
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Done yielding you say, last year I managed to pick a ripe blackberry around December 20th. Sweet as a lime, but ripe.
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Update on Obsidian Blackberry… started these two fall 2022… they grew well last season filling most of that cattle panel trellis space.
We had one night at 2-3F this winter and another at 6-7F.
Most of the canes suffered a few feet of tip die back. A couple canes died completely and found the cause… large bulging swells near the cane base (red neck cane borer) most likely.
After pruning out all the dead cane that pic shows what is left and looks healthy. It is pushing some buds now… hope it does not come out to early and get toasted.
Looks like i may get a few Obsidian Blackberries this year. They are good sized berries and supposed to be very early… should ripen in June for me.
Hope to do a flavor report and have berry pics… later this spring.
TNHunter
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does anybody know of a full “tree” or “map” of all the varieties and their lineages, basically like a family tree?
I know some websites will show that “variety x is a cross between y and z”, but I haven’t see any full family tree of all blackberries or raspberries anywhere
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George Darrow did something like that in the 1930s but alot has changed since then he was obsessed with blackberries and raspberries and breeding. I posted a link to his work but that link is dead now as far as i can tell. The title was Blackberry and Raspberry Improvement or something like that and published in 1937.
George Waldo didnt do anything like that… as far as i can tell.
If anyone would have done it recently it would have been Chad Finn…he wrote many papers on breeding from the legends… he was very much into history.
There are so many variations with the seeds and sometimes some cultivars that are bred that dont even have names just numbers. They are then bred with another number and the seeds are taken until they get a good result.
If anything that would be an excellent post to the Growing Raspberry and Blackberry group on FB. I would love to read the answers… you will probably get over 100 answers in a day. Likely someone on there will solve it.
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I have a Blackberry that I planted a few years ago from the farmers market. It put on a few amazing berries last year but not very many then this winter it had quite a few flowers. I think it’s too hot here and they’re in full sun. I’ve got some trees planted in ground now so hoping they can shade them in the afternoon. I think the guy said it was a Triple Crown. Suckers like crazy in an 25g smart pot. Anyone plant from seed? Sorry I don’t have any pics but here’s a flower.
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This year and for years going forward you will probably see a cultivar in the box stores and likely other places like greenhouses and the like of a new blackberry called Taste of Heaven.
It is Ponca as i read it…
here is the proof (at the very bottom of the page).
Also noted by Hirt’s
Kudos to Hirt’s for being honest upfront on the naming…but im not sure that the Z5B is correct. Also to note that proven winners lists it as Z5…
U of Ark noted winter damage on Ponca at their location…but did note that Ponca is different in that it provides secondary buds during winter damage… so YMMV on growing zones and amount of winter damage of Ponca aka Taste of Heaven.
If anyone successfully grows Ponca in Z5 please report to clear up what some nurseries are posting.
Hi Folks - I just joined this forum and am AMAZED at how many folks are on here doing so many awesome things in the realm of fruits, nuts, berries and gardening/farming in general. Super excited to learn, try new things and experiment!
I have a few blackberries and raspberries and wanted to get some advice:
These are the ones in the ground:
Apache
Natchez
Navaho
Prime Ark Freedom
Thornless Boysenberry
We got some fruit from the Prime Ark last year but not much. The rest I think I put in too late to get much. I need to go and perform some maintenance on the patch. Any suggestions on how to maintain them? I was going to simply tie up any canes that are on the ground, cut back to about 5-6 ft and remove dead and broken canes.
I also bought a few raspberries that I haven’t put in the ground yet and will post about those separately.
I wanted to ask the experienced folks on this thread: What berries/cultivars would you recommend for the following ideal requirements:
- Maintenance isn’t too complicated.
- Great flavor/size fruit.
- Extending the season when I can get ripe berries fresh from the yard.
I’m in Irvine in SoCal if that helps and don’t have a LOT of space for these. I can probably grow 4-6 varieties. Maybe a handful more if there are some that do well in pots too but sunlight will end up being an issue.
Thank you to anyone that replies. Looking forward to the journey of discovery and to getting more berries this year!
Nice video on production of Ouachita Blackberries… in a previous video he noted that he had some winter damage at -15F and this is the resulting crop. Pretty good i would say.
In a review on this link a guy in Z4 Wisconsin said that he tilled his all under then had them all come back and flower then gave him a crop.
Ouachita Thornless Blackberry | Gurney's Seed & Nursery Co.
Not sure what to believe on the internet but possibly could be a candidate for Z4… not many folks try things not listed for their zone so hard to come upon good reliable information.
I pulled mine due to cropping about the same time as Apache and at the time i thought Apache was a much better berry for size and flavor… i may give them another try. I think i had a very wet late spring as well which could have jaded my review.
Apache left. Ouachita right.
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since TNHunter showed his Obsidian, I’ll show mine here in the Dallas, TX area
Also this is my Siskiyou:
Another thing - I’m already seeing flower buds forming on my Prime Ark Freedoms and it’s still Februrary! Is that normal?
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Prime-Ark Freedom fruits early in the year on the floricane, 9–11 days earlier than Natchez, based on what I have found. I have my plant in an unheated garage in northwest Ohio zone 6b and the leaf buds are already breaking and about 1/2in long. It motivated me to prune my plants and get my new in-ground bed ready for transplanting this past weekend. It is late February but the weather has been like April.
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Edit - just finished reading this entire thread. I now want to immediately buy about 40 varieties I took notes on 
…
@krismoriah Seems like you still like these “Victory” plants? And if so, do you sell plants or have any recommendations where I can try to source them? They seem ideal for my situation - am trying to grow some berries in a small backyard in Zone 10 (Irvine, CA).
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I have a dozen or so ready to go in pots. A guy on here last year said he wanted them and after i got them ready he disappeared and ghosted me.
I did notice something this year in that the plants in pots and the plants that i have in ground did not lose many of their leaves at all… even with killer frosts and several trips to 0F. They are still dark green.
Im curious how this plant will do in the hottest climate…yours… as well as pushing zones to say Z4…
So PM me and i can get some ready for you bare root. i dont ship in pots or soil.
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Thank you @krismoriah - PM sent (just confirming here for the broader thread).
Also wondering if you or any others here had feedback on the longer post I put above asking for recommendations? I didn’t put an @ in the post and now I can’t edit it. It’s post number 574.