No info but I have seen a lot of those around the local nurseries lately. I was thinking about picking one up when I get a couple logan berries to try out.

Yes, these plants are all over town and I can't find a single review on them. I didn't look at the price until now with a quick check on Amazon. There's something about these high-priced Monrovia introductions that are a bit of a turn-off. If it's high priced and looks gimmicky, then it's probably a gimmick.

Yup, no doubt, mrclint. I guess I'll be the first with an opinion :-) What I like about it, is it was bred to stay bushy and do well in a container. And of course, no thorns is a huge plus. Raspberries in general can be a little persnickety to grow here, so I guess we'll see how this one does in a pot on my patio. I was able to find mine a little less expensive at $24.00 than the normal $32.00 I've seen around. $44.00 is really high. Clifton's is always a little higher priced than what you might find elsewhere, either online or in your local garden center. They do ship nice quality plants, though. Just a bit pricey.

Patty S.

Hi everyone! Gardening newbie here. Well, I joined Gardenweb last year when I started attempting to grow things but hadn't started chatting 'til now. I think I have bored my friends, family,co-workers and anyone i could get to listen to me to tears with my constant garden chatter. I thought I should start chatting here before I start seeing people run when they see me :)

I bought a raspberry shortcake bush last month from Armstrong. Yes...they are very pricey but they guarantee their stuff so I buy many of my plants from them. I also happened to have a gift card so it didn't hurt as much. :). Anyways, for my garden it's a good fruit bush. My backyard is fairly small, very strangely configured and its 90% cemented. I have almost everything in pots.

I had 2 very delicious looking large fruits yesterday and I had 2 more that looked almost ready. Probably today or tomorrow. It's a very compact bush and I almost missed the ripe fruits because the greenery was hiding them.

Now, I say delicious looking because when I ate them I had made the mistake of eating them just after I brushed my teeth. Not good. You know how it is if you have OJ just after you brush your teeth? So....when I pick the other two berries, I will let you know how those were.

I happened to go to Chino Farms one day in March when they were selling some of their raspberry canes. I am clueless as far as species but the fruit is a pale pink and on the small side. They aren't the color of supermarket berries. They are very delicious.

I'm in Encinitas. I'm not sure zone 10 is correct. I'm fairly close to the beach and have that marine layer that cools everything down.

Whew....ok....see? Word babble! :))). Jude

Patty,

I have seen them around too. I was interested in them until I saw the price.

A raspberry that has done well for me in San Diego is Fall Gold. I planted one cane in a wine barrel last year. I think I bought it at El Plantio for 5 or 10 bucks. The single cane had lots of super sweet berries. This year the whole wine barrel is filled with canes. It spreads like a weed.

Tom

This post was edited by econ0003 on Fri, May 24, 13 at 12:50

Thanks, Tom. I will run over to El Plantio (one of my very favorite nurseries in SD county, btw), and pick one up. I have an empty pot I can put it in, and even if the canes sprout up from the hole at the bottom of the pot, there are pavers all around, so easy enough to prune away any unwanted runners. I have a Chester Blackberry there, which has done exceptionally well, and provides delicious blackberries. My favorite berry.

Patty S.

Hey Jude (sorry, could not resist), just saw your post. Let us know how 'Raspberry Shortcake' measures up, we'd love to know. And yes, you are actually zone 10b, a little more temperate than me, as I'm about 6-7 miles in from the coast. I even think there are some parts of the San Diego proper coast that are zone 11. But, we really don't use the USDA zones here in California, but better to use the Sunset zones, which much better define our climates here in the Western part of the USA. You are zone 24, and I am zone 23.

Patty S.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sunset Climate Zones: San Diego Region

I planted thornless Boysenberries, which are pretty much a slam dunk here in So Cal. It was planted this year, so no berries to speak of yet.

The Fall Gold look good for a couple of reasons, ever-bearing, birds less attracted to yellow color, but they are not thornless.

Great suggestion, mrclint. I actually have two empty pots, so maybe one for 'Fall Gold' and one for a thornless boysenberry. I think Armstrong carries the thornless boysenberry by Monrovia, and possibly 'Fall Gold' as well.

Patty S.

Yeah Patty, were you live thornless Boysens should be a sure thing.

Caneberry plants are cheap and plentiful when dormant (during bare root season here locally). I wouldn't be too sure of the health and vigor if you bought them now.

Hi everyone!

I took my plant back today. I had more berries ripen and they were so disappointing. Definitely a strong raspberry after taste but watered down intensity of flavor... and sour. Not sweet tart but just plain sour.

My husband had berries in his cereal this morning and the look on his face when he ate the first blackberry was priceless. I asked him how the raspberries were and he looked in his bowl and said "I ate raspberries? There were raspberries in there?" It's so hard to get him to eat fruit so it needs to be good, plus my space is limited. For the price I paid for that bush, it just wasn't worth it to me. I got a blackberry/boysenberry cross instead.

Patty-thank you for the zone info. I tried to google it a couple of times but got different zone numbers. I knew I was close but I didn't feel like I had it quite right.

I hope everyone's having a wonderful weekend!