Perfect time for this post! Just ordered a dozen of darrows! They say they are the hardiest blackberries... I'll let you know how they growin the fall!

Thanks for post,
Joe

I did a buttload of research before ordering my hardy blackberries early this winter, and ultimately decided on Illini Hardy, as it gets somewhat better reviews overall than Darrow. The two are related -- I believe Illini Hardy (name taken from its point of origin, in Illinois) is a daughter or descendant of Darrow. So... I don't have personal experience, but I did probably 50 hours of research before making my order -- I'm like that sometimes.

I also decided to order some Triple Crown. Different people had differing opinions about how hardy this variety is. Some say it survives just fine on its own in Zone 5, others say it will require winter protection. So, I will protect it, just to be safe. The way people rave about TC, I just couldn't NOT give it a try this year.

Looking forward to the real results of my "research" in 2014!