Jake:

Doyle is a wonderful blackberry with hard to believe production. I have been growing them for about 10 years now, but I am in zone 7 and you are a lot colder than that. You might have a hard time getting any trailing thornless blackberry through your winters without laying down the canes and insulating in some way. Blackberries are just not as tough as raspberries in cold conditions. Paying a lot for Doyle plants would be a roll of the dice for you, and I certainly wouldn't buy too many.

Doyle plants will multiply fairly easily through tiprooting, and I toss out a lot of plants that tiproot away from the trellis when I clean them up every fall. So if you are successful with wintering over one or two plants, you can easily expand your planting in the following seasons.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Doyle blackberry originated in Indiana and they grow profusely here in the northern great lakes. You have to keep them pruned though,I've had shoots grow 38ft.

Thanks for the reply guys
I know that I should trial them, they sound phenomenal!! If they are only half as productive as they say, that would still be good. I have seen where they say they're rated for zone 3. The other big question I have is how great do they taste? That's just as important.
Thanks for the help
Jake

Hi All
Just wanted to bump this. Still wondering how they taste, if they taste great I'm always willing to risk money to see if I can grow them.
Thanks again guys
Jake

I wonder how they would do in a large container? I'm going to try triple crown in a half wiskey b. filix

Jake:

Taste is a very subjective thing, and hard to describe. Doyle tastes exactly like blackberries, perhaps slightly more tart than varieties like Triple Crown or Navajo, but it's a very close call. Doyle produces over a long season of 4 weeks or more, and the berries that form later are smaller and somewhat seedier. But that's not a reason not to grow it. The very generous production is an excellent reason to grow it.

For Filix:
Trailing thornless blackberries like Doyle and TC have very long canes (mine have grown over 20 feet if left unpruned) that require strong overhead support. You could, of course, keep pruning them back, but in so doing you would reduce the fruiting area of these biennials the following season. In your climate, the only advantage I can see to containerizing would be to bring them into a protected location in winter. Aside from that, these berries are not well suited to container culture. They are not bushes.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Thanks J.M. That is the very reason I wanted to containerize them. Some I have heard, have lost them in a below normal winter up here. Im buying some from Nourse. I was going to put some in thr ground and a couple in large containers. Thanks very much for your help. I know you know your stuff. filix

I bought 5 plants a few years back. On the third year I had 175 quarts. I could have picked more but I got tired.

I don;t understand the enthusiasm. I got 3 - 3 inch seedlings for 60 bucks! and they did not even live!