I kept reading how hardy and good Clakinks family heirloom blackberries were. So last fall I asked Clark if he could send me a few plants to try out. He told me he couldn’t, but referred me to 39thparallel who also had them and might be able to send me some. In March, Mike at 39thparallel sent me 6 bare root plants. When I was potting them, some had roots bigger than I could fit in the pot so I trimmed the roots to make them fit. Just out of curiosity I tossed the roots in a pot of soil and covered them. As an additional experiment I took two hardwood cuttings and put them in soil as well. Clark warned me that these were very vigorous plants with a will to live and would grow roots through my grow bags and escape into my yard so I keep them on my patio for now. They will eventually go up to my property in Michigan and get planted in the ground on the back of the property where they can spread to their hearts content. All 6 plants woke up and have good growth on them.
There are also some cuttings from a PrimeArk Freedom cane that broke off that I am trying to root in those pots.
When Clark says these are aggressive plants he is not kidding. Seems like any piece of the plant that lands in soil is going to generate a new or many new plants. I’m guessing I won’t get to try the berries until next year, but looking forward to it.
@39thparallel grows them as part of his nursery so I appreciate he was able to send you what you needed. The berries will get very aggresive soon they were bred for it. He grows many fruits from my property. Nothing I grow is patented and i never charge for what i give away. I love growing fruit and want good plants shared with as many people as possible. Many fruits I grow are pretty unique. Here is more about the blackberries. They look like they are in good hands! By the way they will adapt to your climate so don’t be surprised to see some unique plants soon. Blackberries by the gallons
The best tasting blackberry ever. They remind me of the fruit flavored syrup at the pancake restaurants. I have not seen a more aggressive growth habit since Little Shop of Horrors.
Yes that crabapple grows in clusters like grapes, stores well, tastes good, ripens later. It’s a very good crabapple. Again there is no patent feel free to propagate it and share it.
I think everyone appreciates everything you do to preserve and propagate this rare stuff. @chadspur this is what that crabapple looks like unsprayed New Apple Seedling Varieties
I haven’t. I took them up and planted them on my property in Michigan. They are doing very well up there, but I haven’t been able to be there when they were ripe. The vines were loaded with berries early this summer when I was there. My niece tried them after I left and liked them.
Controlling them is impossible and for many orchardists that is a good thing to have something that grows to well and tastes good. They are great when you want to create a natural barrier. The wildlife increased by 10x after they are introduced in my experience. They serve as both food and shelter for animals. They correct soil for me and are a consistent source of food. I use them to control erosion in bad areas. They are not meant for the back yard they are very aggressive heavy producing berries.
Mine were doing well last year. I’m going up there next month and will see how they are doing this year. I was doing some excavation up there last year and some got buried under the excavated soil. We’ll see if they find there way back to the surface this year.
Do you still have yours or did you have to stop growing them? They also spread by seed! I’m not joking a bit when I say be careful with these. My grandfather grew these and they were healthy for Him. When I brought them into Kansas I drastically improved them over a 10 year period. They are adapted to Kansas and will be highly aggressive on other properties.
I transplanted them from a managed area and put all of mine on a corner north of pond to eventually block deer run. There’s some outstanding genetic material in the wild ones of our area. The plants I recall are now disadvantaged by the overtaking canopy.
@CoalRidge I still have them and can send you one next year if you still want it. My conditions are really rough and they’re doing great and I love the way they taste. They do a terrific job at subsoiling and surviving.
They are VERY thorny and VERY hardy and aggressive. My conditions are difficult enough that they are not spreading very fast here. They’ve gone about 2 feet in 1 year. Others report crazy runners and popping up from roots much farther away.
Sure! That would be great. I’ll keep in touch. I’m in zone 6a/5b, but the wind chills gets bad up here. Not as bad as anything way up north, though, so not sure what would keep it in check. I’ll probably make space for it along a fence row by the woods somewhere as a deer fence, haha.
