I checked out the White Blackberry thread.
Actually, going by this link, Snowbank’s Lawton parent is a R. allegheniensis x R. frondosus hybrid. I couldn’t find info on the Crystal White’s heritage. Is R. frondosus diploid like R. allegheniensis?
Are the Snowbanks confirmed diploids? That’s my preferred ploidy in breeding stock, and I plan on acquiring Snowbank, Anne Yellow Raspberry, and some Yellowcaps to try my hand at pale-fruited hybrids. So, for some follow-up questions…
I noticed that all the available Purple Raspberries are back-crosses to Red rather than an even split between Red and Black. Why is that? Do the Blackcap’s traits and flavor profile predominate over the Red’s? Is a back-cross required to make a more intermediate fruit? Will I need to back-cross my F1 “Yellow Purple” in order to make an evenly-split fruit?
Also, why haven’t Black or Purple Raspberries been used in breeding “Logan” type hybrids? The only one I can think of is the Olympic Berry seen here, but I’d think there should be more work done with them. Incidentally, Olympic is high on my wish list, but I can’t find it anywhere.
When making a three-part hybrid, should I breed Purple to Blackberry, or should I first cross Blackberry to Blackcap and then add Red? Breeding logic tells me to go with Purple, for more evenly-split genetics (truly half Rasp-, half Blackberry), but flavor logic tells me to breed the dark fruits together and then breed to red for more evenly-split flavor (but then, Blackcaps are said to taste different from Blackberries). Should I just go for broke and try both routes?
What should I call a White “Logan”? Not like a market name, but a common name. It seems improper to use “Logan” when there aren’t any actual Logans in its heritage (or even R. ursinus, the Logan’s Blackberry parent). Come to think of it, the whole Black X Rasp category could use a common name. “Logan” is a specific cultivar, distinct from “Tay” (the only other halfbreed) and distinct from “Boysen” and the other back-crosses. The only name I’ve found online for them is “Hybrid Berries”, but that doesn’t seem right, as it excludes Purple Rasps and other hybrids. I know it’s still to early for me to think of names when I haven’t done the hybrids yet, but the argument stands: it still bugs me that the pre-existing hybrids don’t have a name for their category (just marketable cultivar names).