My own local variety given to me 10 yrs ago. Dont know the original type! Thorny but a vigorous grower and tough. Very nice sized and sweet as ever. Zone 9a south La climate.
Works well for me.
i bet kent king is Garfield king once offed by fedco about 10 yrs ago. a friend of mine has them. something seems shady about these selections. not much if any info. on them.
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Its a gray area as far as ‘shady’. From what i can tell they are selling wild types that do well in that climate. It would be different if they were passing off known varieties and changing the names.
Garfield King was the name of the guy who found the berries in Fort Kent Maine. So technically the name is kinda ok.
Here is an old post (2006) written by Jim Fruth (Pequot Lakes) - where he talks about Fort Kent King Blackberries and how he doesnt really like them…and he talks about developing his own blackberry.
https://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/nafex/2006-May/022245.html
ive read that before. Garfield King is responsible for naming many wild varieties of apples in northern Maine. he also has a Montmorency type cherry he discovered here that carries his name. my Garfield King yellow transparent came from a ancient tree growing on Charette hill in Ft. Kent. my father used to bring us there as kids to pick the apples. it was a race to be the 1st ones to get them as they ripened. imagine my excitement when i saw a clone of this tree for sale on fedcos site 30+ years later! i believe Jim Fruith did release his own blackberry cultivar but i havent seen where its sold anymore. his black raspberries are for sale by Honeyberry USA… im looking to grow triple crown this spring. they are only hardy to z5 but are a semi trailing thornless blackberry. ill just place the canes on the ground and bury with straw then snow. they should overwinter just fine. i still will keep my Nelsons as theyre so productive and tasty with very erect canes. my wife loves them but relies on me to pick as the thorns are wicked on them. 
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I think you should also put in a few Chester to compare. Its a tad more cold hardy.
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ive read from several sources that Chester only has fair tasting berries where Triple crown is touted as excellent in taste and production. ill give them a go and if they dont make it ill try the Chester and few others mentioned for cold hardiness.
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Well some people choose Chester for U-Pick and farmers markets. I think they taste almost the same as Triple Crown. They have more berries per plant but about 3/4 the size. In similar situations Chester will yield sometimes double Triple Crown.
Here is a study from Virginia Tech which isnt that far from my location.
https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/HORT/HORT-226/HORT-226-PDF.pdf
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I have questions about Ebony King Blackberry.
Currently my local Walmart has them in plastic bags. I pilfered through them and noticed that the pencil sized canes are thornless and the smaller ones have thorns.
Looking online i see descriptions of ‘mostly thornless’, very thorny and also thornless.
I have seen pictures on social media of plants that bear 3000 or so berries per plant and insanely productive…and reports that its not very productive at all.
I know its a very old variety and has no real value compared to modern varieties except for a hobby collector like me
Even this old flyer doesnt say if its thorned or thornless…
I have no clue why the walmart vendor would be sketchy and not put the correct plants in the bags…i just dont know why the small canes are thorned and the larger canes are smooth. And which will actually end up being Ebony King…or is that how the canes are? thorny when small then smooth when older?
For you Canadians i came across the listing for Ebony Hardy… says its Zone 2-3. Reading the description it kind of looks like Illini Hardy but im not sure.
@krismoriah … 6 ft ridged thorny canes… and their berry description sounds similar too.
Starks sold me the Illini hardy 20 years ago with the flavor description… taste like wild blackberries… and they do… but larger and sweeter.
My illini canes I tip at 5 ft and they develop some nice long laterals at the top of the canes.
In years when I did not tip prune them… they would easily go 7 8 ft long or more.
This invention concerns a new and distinct variety of blackberry which was made by a controlled cross between Chester Thornless×NY 95 in the winter of 1979-80 at the University of Illinois, Urbana, Ill. 61801. While conventionally referred to as Illini Hardy, the plant may also be designated as Rubus Illini Hardy. The seedling was field planted in 1980 and selected in 1983.
Looks like the patent is around 40 years old which is probably why nobody sells it… and the ones that do are kind of changing the name.
Looks like Chester is its daddy… which is a fine plant…and one of the most cold hardy of the thornless.
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Hey @krismoriah @steveb4 … have you ever propagated blackberries from roots ?
The reason I ask is this… in the next year or two I will be moving to a new location, starting over on all that I have growing… I do not plan to take my Illini Hardy Blackberry with me to the new location.
Not because I don’t like them… but because they start ripening (for me here in TN) June 15… and the first week in July SWD show up… and they will continue to ripen berries into August (if we get a few rains in July). So for most of their prodution period is the Peak of my SWD problem.
Our wild blackberries ripen early July, into August… and when they are ripening, that is when I have noticed PEAK SWD problems here.
That is why at my new location I will be trying Prime Ark Freedom, and perhaps Obsidian and perhaps others to find some blackberries that ripen (before or after July/August).
I know that some of you Norther Growers would like to try the Illini Hardy and I have a nice row of those… 7 crowns total, 3-4 canes each crown…
Now here is the Catch… the older blackberry varieties most were susceptible to a fungal disease called Rosette… also called double blossom. Wild blackberries carry that and suffer from it some, but they can pass it to your Tame Blackberries… For the first 15 years or so I had my Illini, I saw no sign of that… But about 5 years ago, it showed after a couple of extra rainy springs… and mine have had it ever since. Below is a bit of info you can find online about Rosette…
…
Rosette disease, also called double blossom disease, is a destructive disease of blackberries in Louisiana and other southeastern states . If left unmanaged, commercial production can be severely limited because diseased canes will not produce berries.
…
I am way north of Louisiana here and I have never sprayed my blackberries with anything… I do take out my spent floricanes, as soon as the last berries are harvested. But at that point the new primocanes are already present, some 4-5 ft tall already… and the way I understand this Rosette… you can’t really get rid of it because it passes from floricane to primocane each year, so you will always have it.
I keep my patch cleaned up well and they have continued to grow very well, nice tall stout canes, and they produce a lot of fruit too… but some does get affected by the Rosette… and for example all the blooms on one lateral, they will just sort of dry up, turn a reddish color after blooming, and no fruit develops on that lateral… … But Illini blooms over a long period…(close to 2 months) and other laterals on that same plant may make some really nice berries.
I prune out and dispose of the affected laterals when I notice them.
Despite having this Rosette issue, they still produce a lot of nice berries.
Someone here (may have been you Kris)… mentioned propagating them from roots.
I have never tried that, but it seems to me that if you propagated them from roots, you should be free of the Rosette disease.
Since I will be moving from this place and leaving these Illini Blackberries behind… I would like to offer some Illini roots to you guys… I will gladly dig down, find some roots, pack them in some moist soil, leaves, woods compost, and mail them to you… and let you do the propagating.
I would like to limit the number of folks I send them to - 3.
And hopefully those 3 if they have success, can share them with others via cuttings, or how ever they like.
So… Kris and Steve if you are interested in this, let me know and as soon as I can, I will get some roots collected and sent to you.
If there is one other that might be willing to do this, to get yourself some Illini Hardy Blackberries… with the catch that you also have to at least once offer them to others here, if you do successfully propigate them… Let me know, and I will send you some roots too.
Thanks
TNHunter
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According to the USDA research station "Since the rosette fungus does not occur in the roots of blackberry plants, fields established from root cuttings should not become infected with rosette "
Back in the old days instead of shipping live plants you could get bundles of root cuttings for cheap. One company still does sell root cuttings.
I will gladly take your root cuttings and propagate them out for future interest.
Its kind of what i do anyways. I collect hard to find… and some varieties that have fallen from grace from the 1960s and up.
Most of what i have is from trading anyways. So yes im interested.
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if i had the room id take some but got some triple crown and chester coming this spring.
@krismoriah … I will collect some roots soon and send them to you… our snow is about gone now… sunshine today wiped it out.
Just PM me your address please. I will gladly pay the shipping and would love to hear exactly how you plan to start them from roots only.
I will try to grow one or two from roots myself… and if I do have success… will plant them at my new place. I would not want a big row of them since they ripen in my SWD peak… but I could bag berries from one or two. They are good berries and hardy dependable plants.
I started 7 crowns 20 years ago and one of those died several years ago but the other 6 arre still going strong.
@steveb4 … if you change your mind let me know.
Thanks
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Starting from roots is very easy. Collect root sections between 8 and 12 inches long. Store the roots in a gallon ziploc bag wrapped in a moist paper towel in the refrigerator veggie crisper. Do NOT let them freeze. Prepare soil by tilling in compost then dig a trench 3 to 4 inches deep. Drop in roots so they are a few inches apart in the trench. Cover with soil. The best time to collect roots is early spring between mid March and mid April.
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It would be interesting to find out what the really are. If anyone tries them, please report back.
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if you are talking about the Ebony Hardy… all signs point towards them being Hardy Illini…which are sold alot in Canada. But it could also be Balsors Hardy. Balsor's Hardy Blackberry – Silver Creek Nursery
wish they sold them in the states. too expensive to have them sent here. besides i have nelsons which are very productive and so far, hardy here. ill see how they fared above ground after the -43f we got late jan. if they survived that they are z3 hardy. im guessing that they got some damage though.
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