LOL! I take it from the seller of this variety… sorry! 
Suddenly I’m glad I hadn’t gone through with my Baker Creek Seed purchase. Bramble viruses are no trivial thing. ¿Is there a way to get cleaner stock for this variety? Or is it likely that it wasn’t a virus? (I think they’re tissue-cultured plants, right?)
The white blackberry, as lordkiwi said, is Rubus fruticosus (which is a hodgepodge of different blackberry species and hybrids, usually closely related to or derived from the original fruticosus). The yellow raspberry in your picture is a pale-fruited variant of R. idaeus. Yellow-fruited R. occidentalis are a bit rarer, but available. I think Yellow-fruited R. leucodermis are almost impossible to find in nurseries. I’m planning on getting the yellow R. occidentalis from OIKOS nursery, maybe some time next year. Link here: https://oikostreecrops.com/products/organic-fruit-trees-shrubs-plants/wild-raspberry-plants/yellow-black-raspberry/
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I am preaty sure they are in the clear now. Both plants recovered and look healthy. Growing from tissue clones rather then daughter plants likely accounted for the slow growth.
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That’s good to hear! … … … Might I trouble you for a daughter plant?
Also, whatever happened to the green-fruited one? Did you ever get them to sprout?
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The Snowbank has not had enough time to produce daughters yet. However the Polar has and I should be able to send one after full dormancy sets.
The Green berry seeds are sitting safe on my shelf. I was not able to give them my full attention and I did not want to waste them. I have my seed starting area setup in my 3 season room and it will be my winter project.
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Alright then! Let me know when the polar is ready, and keep me updated on the Snowbank. Extended breeding and selection between the two should yield some interesting results.
I wonder if R. imperialis is more likely to produce white, yellow or green progeny when crossed with white or yellow berries. Incidentally, is it closer to raspberries or blackberries on the family tree? It does retain the torus when picked, if I remember correctly.
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Anyone have an answer on the pollination issue? I have twenty of them, every single one flowered massively, but I didn’t get a single darn fruit this year. It’s not an issue of not having pollinators…
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It might be virus infected causing no fruit . While most blackberries self pollinate there are exceptions within a species . I have a seedling that does not self yet the parent plant that produced the seed does self pollinate .
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When in doubt cross pollinate. Polar aka ‘Nettleton Creamy White’ came from a wild selection in Illinois, any Rubus allegheniensis or wild American blackberry would be its kin.
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From all of my research Its blackberry kin. I am hoping to breed hardiness into it and retain the green color. Sadly the research with the most knowledge on the topic died a couple of years ago tragically.
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That’s unfortunate, may he rest in peace.
If you manage to get the seeds growing, you’ll be able to continue research with it yourself, at least from a horticultural context.
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For those intersted in Snowbank this year.
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One Green World has snowbank on sale now, I ordered the smaller sized one and was pleasantly surprised at how robust and large the plant was to be in a 3 or 4 inch container.
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This years PolarBerry performance is improved but still horrible. Snow bank bloomed so late everything else was done. The funny thing is PolarBerry Illinois bloomed in time with the wild blackberries NJ blackberries but Snowbank which is a improved selection from NJ bloomed extremely late. Hopefully its just a miss fire from its first year flowering.
Snowbank. close to 0 drulets set.
Polarberry also have low but improved druplet setting.
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What are the causes of the poor drupelet set ? I have some 2 year old Kiowa blackberries that had very poor drupelet set this year yet all my other varieties are doing very well.
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pollination. Too cold or wet during flowering. something caused the insect not to be available for pollination. Did you get unseasonabliy hot during flower it could have cooked the pollen.
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Definitely not too cold or wet. I had observed honey bees visiting the flowers consistently. I’m puzzled. I have 3 Kiowa plants in one part of yard that all had very poor drupelet set. I have a single Kiowa about 60 feet away that was about 3 weeks behind the other 3 that had good drupelet set. My prime ark freedoms were flowering at the same time and had no problems with pollination. Could the age of the plant make a difference?
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Next time observe if male stemen turn dark after the flowers have opened. Pollen matures after the flowers have opened so there first receptive to other plants pollen before producing there own.
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I observed them closely during flowering. The stamen were a light yellow when the flower would open and be a light brown color by days end.
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