Blackberry ID

A kind neighbor gave us two baby blackberry plants (3" tall max) back in the fall of 2014. He had ordered them from somewhere and had intended to plant them, but never got around to it. They didn’t fruit at all in the summer of 2015. In Jan/ Feb of 2016, I pruned back what I thought were the older canes (but was just guessing as there had been no fruit in 2015) and we had a small amount of berries last summer. I did even more aggressive pruning of what I thought were the older canes. I had the idea to mark the ones remaining before the new growth began this spring- hoping that’ll make the pruning a bit easier next winter.

My main question is if anyone knows what variety they might be. The fruit has been decent; not amazing, but it’s been a very rare blackberry that I’ve tasted and adored. I spaced them way too closely- maybe 2’ apart. They are getting lots of flower buds and I noticed the pretty magenta petals poking out. If I recall, they do fade to white so I googled and saw here http://homeguides.sfgate.com/thornless-blackberry-plants-pink-flowers-63807.html that they might be Black Satin or Thornless Evergreen. Anyone growing those or recognize the buds?

I’m of course getting suckers/ volunteers which I’m happy to share with anyone locally!

The short fruiting spurs and arrangement of flower buds is not typical of Black Satin.

Note the poster is in Northern Virginia.

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Thank you, Larry!! I fixed the link. I will look up the other variety - thornless evergreen, I think, to see if I notice anything. Good to be able to rule out Black Satin. I wasn’t sure how common the pink/ magenta petals were in blackberries. Yes, I’m in Northern VA- just south of Brunswick, MD. I should have said that in the post!

Identification of Rubus cultivars is not easy with a single time capsule. Thornless does not make it any easier as this can be induced with hormones … and wear off in a few years. Lets see how it progresses through spring, summer, fall, and winter in your location for a few years.

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Wow- fascinating about the thornless-ness being able to be induced to be hormones and possibly wearing off! OK. I will just have to keep an eye on it for a few years. Thank you!

Please continue to post pictures, esp. Ripe berries on the vine.

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The amount of blossom fading from initial color can narrow down the possibilities a bit.

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Got pics

today of an opened blossom as well as more tight buds.

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Flower will need to be open about a week to determine its final color.

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Ok. It’s already significantly paled compared to the bright magenta I saw (and still see) peeking out of some tight buds.

identifying fruit without fruit is sketchy but, based on the timing of the flowers, I would play the odds and guess it’s freedom if it has an erect growth habit and Natchez if it has a trailing growth habit.

Thanks for taking a guess to help me id! :slight_smile: I will continue to post as the fruit develops. I did a quick google and freedom looks like a primocane-bearing plant which I don’t think mine is… but it definitely has what I’d describe as an erect growth habit. This is the first year I’ve attempted a trellis, so they’re much more contained so far. Last year, the canes all went up and then arched over toward the ground as they grew. Hmmm… I keep telling myself that the variety doesn’t matter but I’m just curious!! Thanks again!

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Some updates pics including a shot of my whole blackberry trellis attempt.

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I think the bottom-most close up pic is the same blossom that I had posted two days ago.

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Blossom of 2 days ago had 2 adjacent buds; recent photo has 3 buds. Also, 2 days would be too quick to go from freshly opened to petal drop. Shake a few older flowers and see if any petal that drops has retained some pink.

Unless you are lifting these off the ground for training, they appear to be semi-erect.

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Hmmm… I really thought it was the same one but you’re right on the adjacent bud difference!! I really thought the bottom- most damaged leaf looked like a match and the location seemed the same as I took the pic but not certain. Maybe the newer pic has a bud that had been hiding behind the petals and grew out? Also, I bet I hadn’t looked at the plants for a few days prior to taking the first pic so maybe the blossom had been open for a few days already in the first pic.

Anyway, thank you for helping me sleuth:) I will try shaking some older looking blooms tomorrow and look at he petals that fall!!

A couple of pics showing different stages of blooms opening up today.

The petals do seem quite pale as they get to the point of falling off.

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Some updated photos from today. I’ve noticed a tinge of purple on the green berries. Is it common to still have buds while having fruits starting to ripen? There are definitely fewer blossoms than two weeks ago, But it’s interesting to me that I still have blossoms and buds that haven’t yet opened.

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My guess is Triple Crown

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In my location, yes.

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