I don’t see Ponca listed at Nourse anymore, so maybe they are already sold out?
They removed it earlier today
I placed my order through Pense back at the end of July, in my zone I believe I’ll be getting them in the spring.
2 Likes
Nourse no longer has it linked from their blackberry webpage, but the page for Ponca is still there. I suspect they don’t want it to be ordered for now so please look but don’t order without contacting them first.
1 Like
I actually found that through a google search, but even though it says you just added it to your cart if you try to buy it when you go to your cart there is nothing there. So it is fully disconnected from purchasing.
Just got my Ponca in from Pense! Planted them in containers for now, keeping through the winter and building beds in spring. The blueberry plant is of nice size too, came completely dormant
2 Likes
i love pences plants ! nice big plants with huge roots!
1 Like
Unfortunately my Ponca didn’t make it over the winter in zone 5a, plus they were just in larger containers and not in ground.
1 Like
Just ate some 3rd year Ponca today. They are better than any other thornless blackberry I have grown. I had apache, natchez, osage and triple crown. Fully ripe Osage and Ponca are as good but early berries Ponca was the only one that wasn’t too tart. Not sure if it is the result of a drier than normal spring. Dead ripe ponca is very good.
9 Likes
Ponca at it’s best is similar to the best western trailing blackberries that I had many years ago. Marionberry and Obsidian were similar. Many if not most berries of all are too tart on all of them. But if ripe enough they’re all very good.
The other thing I’d compare Ponca to is Morus nigra mulberry. Ponca is a step below MN when both are at their best. Taste is similar.
3 Likes
I have new Ponca and Von plants which will hopefully provide fruit next year. To date the best tasting “blackberries” I’ve grown in our region are Olallieberry.
2 Likes
I posted about Ollalie being grown in NY… Folks on the East Coast dont know what they are missing out on.
You (both) had me at “best tasting” now I want some olallieberry 
2 Likes
which is a hybrid… and released in 1935… im gonna start a new thread… meet me in there if u want.
I’m getting my first berries from ponca this year. I figured all the talk about better flavor was mostly hype. It is definitely not hype, at least not in my yard. I’ve grown Arapaho. Ouachita, triple drawn, and osage. Also have thorny Kiowa. Osage is decent for fresh eating but nothing to get excited about. The rest are just not sweet enough for fresh eating. Ponca beats osage by a very wide margin. It tastes very sweet. Much less acidic.
Kiowa dominates in tern of yield. The yield is frankly unreal off those vines. I can pick 2 lb of berries in just a few minutes. And it makes exquisite cobbler and jam. So I’ll always grow plenty of Kiowa, but I’m making a lot more room for ponca next year.
6 Likes
