I currently have some black raspberries (Rubus occidentalis) and was wondering what everyone’s favorite Rubus species and varieties are. Black raspberries are native in my state, so for the most part I can leave them be, which is great. I got them in spring this year from a plant swap. They are still small so I am hoping they will bush out more next coming spring. Below is a picture of when it produced some small fruits in June. I didn’t get to taste the berries, I’m pretty sure the animals got to them first, but once the bush gets bigger I’ll be sure to post a review!
4 Likes
Oh, and I forgot to add, summer was really hot and dry this year, so that’s why the leaves look a little crispy. It’s still alive though, so at least I know it can survive a drought!
black raspberry and blackberry are my favorites. I’m basic lol. I got a ponca this year to add to my other ones. I have purple flowring raspberry which is really cool but the fruit is meh at best. But a cool plant none the less. In the ground right now I have:
Jewel & Munger black raspberry
Fall gold and Heritage Red Raspberry
Wild type northern Dewberry
Ponca Blackberry
Purple flowering Raspberry
2 Likes
Great selection you have there. I really like the look of the Jewel Black Raspberry and the Fall Gold Red Raspberry. How do they taste like? I can’t wait until my black raspberries start producing more.
big fan, I’ve tried to get fall gold to live 5 times (my sister keeps giving me hers for free) and i really like it. this one has finally worked but im not sure why they had such an issue living.
2 Likes
Black raspberries are by far my favorite, I collect tons from the wild patches around here every year. I just put a few cultivars in my yard this year. There is one massive wild plant behind one of my black currants that produces tons of delicious berries.
2 Likes
I’ve tried a a bunch of different blackberries cultivars and for me in north Georgia “Ponca” and “triple crown” are the best tasting, far above the others.
If i still lived in California I would add western trailing types like Marion, boysen, olllie
1 Like
I’m growing Prime Ark Freedom blackberry. it has been very good for me. it is in it’s 3rd season I think and this is the first time it set primocane fruit that are ripening now. The floricane fruit in the spring are large and tasty and not too seedy
I’m not a big fan of raspberries but I have an ohio treasure black raspberry, which is an everbearing type. mine is very neglected.
3 Likes
I would recommend Joan J for its tendency to bear multiple crops. This is my first year with it and it is potted, but it kept sending up new shoots and fruiting. I picked a few berries just a few days ago. I’m generally getting no fruit this late.
I can’t comment too much on taste. So far I haven’t particularly liked any red raspberries. That said both of my kids absolutely love Joan J.
2 Likes
Anyone have opinions on the Killarney red raspberry variety?
I planted a few Killarneys several years ago. They replaced some old Tulameen bushes that were probably dying from root rot. I selected Killarney just because it was supposed to be resistant to root rot, and it turned out not to have the best fruit for this area. The berries are pretty small and crumbly when ripe but don’t taste bad. The bushes do seem to be resistant to root rot. The fruit might be better in a different climate.
2 Likes
I’m a big fan of Triple Crown Blackberry. It’s thornless, very productive and the fruit have great flavor. The berries are large too. There may be other good blackberry varieties, but this one is very dependable. Heritage is the original fall-bearing red raspberry but it is still great, very dependable. And while Fallgold is not the most productive gold raspberry in my experience, it has the finest flavor. It does crumble at harvest sometimes. You just have to eat those and go to the next one.
2 Likes
Killarney’s OK. Survives with no winter damage in Fairbanks. It’s more vigorous and productive than its sibling, Boyne. But for eating out of hand, the best reds by far are the Finnish “nectar raspberries,” which have arctic raspberry in their lineage: Anelma, Heija, and Heisa. They’re not available in the trade, however. The USDA germplasm repository in Corvallis has them.
2 Likes
So how does Ponca measure up against Boysen flavor-wise?
Oh those sound really interesting! Thanks for the recommendations. I am hoping to get some more raspberries next year, and perhaps some blackberries too. I know there are also some native dewberries that grow around my area in the wild, I am curious how those taste. If I ever get to them before the critters do, I’ll let everyone know!
Hard to compare because I grew the western types when I lived in California and grow Ponca now in Georgia so I can’t do a side by side comparison. Marionberry seems to give me the fondest memories for flavor
1 Like
I have compared several blackberries side-by-side here in North Georgia. The only two “western” types that have done reasonably well here are Hall’s Beauty and Obsidian (One Green World Nursery).
The Hall’s Beauty produces excellent tasting fruits about 2 weeks before my Poncas. The fruit size is comparable but the shape of Hall’s Beauty’s fruit is longer cylindrical shaped with smaller sized druplets. The fruiting season is also shorter than Ponca. The only downside to the Hall’s Beauty is that it is somewhat vulnerable to fungal disease such as orange rust. It is very minor though and with proper maintenance it does reasonably well.
It rained quite a bit last year during the ripening season and this did affect the fruit quality, but the Hall’s Beauty were delicious nonetheless. Hall’s Beauty has a good balance of sweet and tart with the scale more on the sweeter end. Fruit flavor and texture is better than Ponca in my opinion; however, Ponca wins in ever other respect (vigor, plant health/ disease resistance, production quantity, fruit resistance to spoiling). Hall’s Beauty is trailing and Ponca is erect.
My Columbia Sunrise has no vigor here but I am still giving it another year or two before calling it. Obsidian has better vigor than Columbia Sunrise but it is thorny unlike the spineless (thornless) Columbia Sunrise.
As for early season blackberries, Ponca is the winner in my area. Caddo is good. Osage was removed due to severe Orange Rust (six plants from two different sources and all were very susceptible to Orange rust - Surprisingly, worse than Navaho). I still grow Navaho Big&Early but the Osages were removed. The small Osage fruits did have very good flavor.
Natchez had inconsistent fruit flavor quality (bad most years) but they did great with everything else. (I am looking forward to trying its daughter, Amanda, once University of Arkansas releases it). The Natchezs too were removed.
Triple Crown was too late in ripening and late season cultivars suffer from the high summer temperature and pests and fungal pressure; so I now only have early and midseason cultivars. I still have its daughter, Eclipse and Galaxy, but last year the Eclipse’s fruit suffered from the high temperatures and had severe white drupelets just like the Apaches. I removed the Apaches for this reason.
Again, late season cultivars do not do well here.
Arapaho are just okay all around.
Sweetie Pie (Just Fruits and Exotics Nursery) is my best tasting and favorite midseason blackberry. Unfortunately, the borers like them too.Out of all my blackberry vines, the Sweetie Pies are the only ones that have experienced borers.
Even though it is a floricane blackberry, it does have two overlapping waves of production like Ponca. The first wave is what I keep but the second wave is destroyed by the pests (wasps, japanese beetles,…) so I prune right after the first wave is collected and dispose the second wave fruit and cuttings immediately. I would still highly recommend Sweetie Pie specifically from Just Fruits and Exotics Nursery (I purchased this cultivar from three different sources and they are the best source).
All in all,
For early season Ponca wins, and for Mid season Sweetie Pie wins.
Caddo, Obsidian, Navaho-Big&Early, Arapaho , and Hall’s Beauty are good additions, if you have space for more.
I hope this information helps.
2 Likes
As far as I know this is a UK only plant… and is not in the US. You mentioned it twice so im curious as to more information about it. Where did you buy from?
Strange. Ponca ripens in June into July here whereas Hall’s Beauty ripens July into late July/Aug. I have not seen any reports of Hall’s Beauty being that far ahead as it is very similar in fruiting time as Marion/Columbia Star and later than Columbia Giant
Also strange… as Osage is one of the few that U of Ark in their patent says is ‘immune’ to orange rust. In their trials they inoculated them and trialed them at various locations and even put them in proximity to infected plants with no signs of Orange Rust in their trials. I dont think i have ever read any other reports of it having OR other than yours.
I didnt see any notes of Hall’s Beauty flowers… does yours have double flowers with pink? Its extremely ornamental.
Same with Osage- Vivid pink flowers and very ornamental.
Ponca- did you note a compact very erect plant… very unique compared to all other U of Ark releases?
Great observations! Allow me to explain each point:
1.)Navaho I purchased from several nurseries. This one in comparison is definitely Bigger and Earlier than the rest, I acknowledge that it may not be the UK version…
2.) If you look at the patents for Hall’s Beauty and Ponca they are giving dates for their respective testing locations - (west coast for Hall’s Beauty) whereas University of Arkansas is giving the ripening dates for their location in the east.
The ripening dates are dependent on location and this can give even google AI some confusion. But, yes, what I have documented is correct. Hall’s Beauty (a trailing) is before Ponca (erect).
I have four plants of each cultivar in different locations around my property.
I purchased two Hall’s Beauty from One Green World and two from Burpees. As for my Poncas, I purchased from Bottoms Nursery, Restoring Eden Nursery, Ison’s nursery, and Berries Unlimited.
Here’s proof that I grow both:
My Ponca photo taken today December 21, 2025.
My Hall’s Beauty taken today also. (I’ll try to take photo the coming season of their beautiful blooms.)
3.) Osage having immunity to Orange Rust is incorrect. I noticed it also in their patents. Nevertheless, I had to remove six plants which I purchased from two sources. Just Fruits and Exotics was one source. I like this nursery very much, but as always, I try to get stock from more than one source. I planted three in one location and three in another and ALL got severe Orange Rust coverage. University of Arkansas may not have observed it in their trials (which they spray), but I did. Sorry, I do not have photos to verify so believe what you will. I say this with the appreciation that you are challenging what I wrote. I sincerely appreciate people who fact check, and I wish that this were practiced by more people. So, thank you for these questions.
Sincerely.
PS: I read your excellent comments on Blackberries, Raspberries and Hybrids
You have an extensive knowledge on Blackberries and I was hoping to find a source for two specific cultivars that I want to test here:
1.) Siskiyou
2.) Black Pearl
I chose these because they seem to satisfy the following conditions:
1.)Early (May - Early June for my area in North Georgia)
2.)Greater than 6 grams on average
3.)Reasonably resistant to disease / fungal pressure.
4.)More on the sweeter end of the spectrum (I prefer >10% soluble solids and Ph of 3.3-3.5)
If you can provide a reliable source, I would be grateful. I will gladly pay for the plants and shipping but I can not find a seller.
Black Pearl- ive never come across anyone growing it… there was talk about it when Chad Finn was alive but i havent read anything about it since.
I think Raintree carried it for a short time then stopped about 15 years ago.
There are other options like Black Diamond etc… and a few others that are obscure like Kotata, Silvan and Newberry.
Siskiyou- I have it and have shared it with a few group members.