‘Newberry’ (this plant is gone from the trade and not for sale anywhere by anyone that i can find). I currently have 30 of these planted and am excited to have them growing.
The ‘Newberry’ name was chosen for two reasons: 1) the berry has been informally sold as ‘‘New Berry’’ in California farmers markets for a few years; and 2) to recognize its roots, because Newberry Crater/Caldera and Volcano are prominent geological features
and park areas in central Oregon.
‘Newberry’ is among the most vigorous blackberries ever released by our program.
‘Newberry’ consistently produced fruit that were larger than all other cultivars in the trial: 35% larger than ‘Marion’
‘Newberry’ is a vigorous plant that produces very high yields of high-quality fruit with an appearance and color that is similar to ‘Boysen’
‘Newberry’ was the highest yielding cultivar overall
We have seen no winter injury on ‘Newberry’ in any of our Oregon or
Washington plantings.
Interesting they say newberry is vigorous and prolific. Mine are moderate vigor and bearing taste is one of my favorites though makes me wonder if I have correct one or maybe to much shade well I just added 6 in full sun, I got three from Raintree when they sold it and was seeing a lot of talk of its flavor. Once I tried and wanted more nobody sold it. Kotata is very vigorous and extremely thorny but very good flavor. I bought siskyou from rolling river turned out to be boysenberry. Bought from grow organic and one died the other two was also boysenberry. Could not find it anywhere so gave up. Sounds like you might be selling @krismoriah in the future I will definitely get two from you as I have room for two more was going to put in more newberry but now will hold off. If I had known you were looking for kotata I would have gladly shared even newberry.
@krismoriah
I’m also in zone 6b WV (Petersburg) I’m going to plant some raspberries an blackberries next year. What is your favorite raspberry and blackberry variety for growing in WV ?
Yeah i never gave up… I was working 7 days a week and travelling out of state during the years when some of the PNW nurseries were selling Kotata, Siskiyou and even Silvan and Newberry.
When i was able to get my berry patch going they were all gone… so its been a long long road to find them all again.
I have talked to folks in pretty cold climates that grow Kotata and Newberry… i guess where they are the thorniest of them all they are the most cold hardy… something in their genes…
Some more nerdy information about Newberry— in California they call it Ruby Boysen in the farmers markets and trade.
'Newberries are typically a bit bigger and sweeter than their boysenberry parents, and the fruits are known to be a little better for shipping, as well, with less likelihood of leaking juice in transit.
They’re also a beautiful shade of red, unlike their deep purple forbearer, giving them the nickname of the Ruby Boysen.’
‘a hybrid variety called the “Newberry” or “Ruby Boysen”, was developed to overcome cultivation challenges that led to the decline in boysenberry popularity’
I dont like to pick favorites for people… but since u are a Mountaineer heres what i think u should be happy with for now.
Blackberries-
Ponca- They are pretty easy to manage, they grow erect and are compact… i dont think i have seen a negative review yet except for some winter damage. We are all used to everything being sweet now… so not many folks like the ‘old timey blackberry taste’. So that would be my pick for someone to be happy with growing in their backyard.
Rasps-
Red - Joan J is an easy one to grow- also thornless and everyone seems to like it. Smaller berry with older genetics…
If u want to up the game a little probably a safe bet to look at the new Crimson series from Cornell. Crimson Night is my pick…its everbearing like Heritage but a bigger improved berry. We talked about Crimson Treasure previously in another thread but it seems to be a Fall bearing variety… and i dont really want another of those.
So imho…if u want to be the envy of the neighborhood and like to give berries to family and friends… it would be hard to go wrong with Ponca and Crimson Night.
Kotata- not many people know much about this berry but it was released in 1951 and grown commercially. It was again released in 1984 to the home grower as a possible replacement for Marion due to it being more cold hardy and firmer. Back then it was Kotata Blackberry… but folks nowadays call it the Kotataberry.
Newberry- Possible replacement for Boysenberry… it again is more cold hardy, firmer and has better genes.
So in a nutshell if you want a better Boysen…Newberry. If u want a better Marion in a colder climate and a lil tougher plant… Kotata.
Kotata thorn image-
Cold hardiness is subjective… I know that there are reports of Newberry having cold damage in a warmer climate than me… and having no winter damage in a climates colder than me… I think it depends.
My Kotata came from Idaho… and has been grown there since the 1990s at a U-pick. He said they have never gotten cold damage except a few rare times on the tips.
Yes sir. They are what got me into them in the 1970s.
Here is something very nerdy… yet fun. There are many many many varieties of ‘wild thorny blackberries’… your state may have one or more that my state does not. I have one called West Virginia Blackberry… Rubus concameratus which may or may not be extinct… nobody really cares… and just lumps them all into ‘wild blackberries’
I DO know for sure that there are two very different ones locally. One has sparse berries spaced apart… and the other is absolutely LOADED… when its blooming you cannot even see anything but flowers. I have found it in 2 places and got berries from it and have them planted and they are growing… they should grow true to seed i think.
Here is a pretty good list of the ‘wild thorny ones’ as you can see there are alot of variations.
My only experience with marionberry… is the blackberry jam at cracker barrel restaurants… says right on the label… made from marionberry.
It is delicious.
Do you know what part of Idaho… man that state ranges from 3b to 7b on usda zone.
The still-image picked berries above appear uniformly ripe but I would caution anyone viewing the Sylvan Berry video (above) against the picking selections of a (Mr. Pucker?) who is nabbing unripe berries. The berry he is actually shown picking uses the “yanking” method.
Next time u go to cracker barrel let us know if they still use Marionberry… i went there last month and was going to buy some… they said at my store that they changed vendors… and the new jelly i saw wasnt worth buying.
Himalayan (Armenian) that is grown in a backyard and trellised and trained- Ripe on first week of May in Z8… has all the thorns u could ask for and is early ripening @TNHunter
As long as there are no thorns on the Berries … I will take them.
We last went to Cracker barrel… probably 2 months ago. My wife gets the blackberry jam every chance she gets. It was still “made with Marionberry” then here in TN… there is a Cracker Barrel in Franklin TN, and one in Spring Hill TN… don’t remember for sure which one we went to.
My Gal will be sad to see the original blackberry jam go. The strawberry has always been good to… hope they don’t change them all.
