Where did you get your wyeberries?

I tried edible landscaping. At the time, their web site said to call for availability. When I called, they told me to check their website for availability. Now there is no mention of wyeberries on their website. I'm hoping you have another source.

Thanks.

I got mine from edible, they must be out. Next year I will tip root some and offer them up if still unavailable. The fruits pictured are still rock hard, they turn a slightly deeper red. If left a long time you can actually pull them off the core like a raspberry, you can see I did that with the core pictured.

Thank you for the update Drew51. Having sampled a number of blackberries this year, flavor is the number one quality I'm trying to capture in a variety. Like you, I grabbed some ripe local wild (Eastern) blackberries to baseline the "true blackberry" flavor people describe online. While not sweet, the wild ones did have that subtle after taste that I'm assuming is the "true blackberry" flavor. When ripe, Triple Crown had the best flavor from a non-Western trailing variety and probably the sweetest blackberry of all I tried this year. I have come to appreciate a "full" or "rich" flavor and prefer it whether or not the berry is sweet. I'd like to hear how loch ness tastes. I did pick up a couple of black satin and osage plants to trial next year. I'm not certain I'm going to actually plant them in the ground until I taste the berries.

Ive had limited experience growing Blackberries (3 years) and raspberries. I did have a chester BB and a heritage raspberry. I dug the raspberry out due to it not being successful here. The Chester, while it grew perfect, was too big. I love both berries though.

A few years ago I found a plant labeled "Boysenberry", and its another of said hybrid black x raspberries. It survives up here layed on the ground in zone 3-4 with minimal care. The leaves on the Boysenberry are massive. Almost rasberry like leaves, yet they are the size of blackberry leaves. Canes were topped at 5 feet when I found then crawling everywhere, roughly 12 feet. They definitely grow more like blackberries. The taste reminds me of a sweet blackberry, but with the tartness of a wild raspberry. The fruit was the size and firmness as blackberry, but red. They also layer themselves prolifically. I believe you are supposed to cut the canes after fruiting before fall, but I need to look into that a bit more.

THis is also my first experience with the hybrids. Yours look great!

canadianplant,

I have several thorny boysenberry plants in the ground as of this spring in zone 6A and was hoping that they would overwinter well. Do you cover the canes in addition to keeping them on the ground? Does snow cover them for most of the winter? There seems to be a lot of conflicting information about boysenberry hardiness. Some sites claim hardiness to -10F while others claim that boysenberry plants are not cold hardy at all and comparable to marionberry plants (not cold hardy). How much do your boysenberries yield per plant on average?

Hey Burton.

One thing, this plant is not thorny in any way (i guess there are a few kinds).

All I did was let the plant sprawl, and let the snow bury it. I have reliable snow here (knocking on wood) and even in a dry winter we have a foot at least. Even up here I manage to grow bamboo stickly because of snow cover! If you dont get reliable snow, I would suggest putting the canes on the ground, and mulching with a few inches of leaves, just to make sure. Maybe even a tarp.

If I am remembering right, I planted this last year, or more likely the year before. THis is the only year I got a decent amount of canes and laterals. SO far one good bunch. I dont let the plant get too big though, so I am not hoping for a massive harvest. I think I see 6 clusters; not bad since i dont do much!

I have seen some odd hardiness information as well (but that goes with most plants in general IMO). I can tell you if the canes are n an exposed area (mine are in a "L" shaped side of the house) and above the snowline here, they die. IF they are in a protected spot, some canes seemed to make it quite well and flowered.

I can only assume theyd survive there, but a layer of leaves definitely shouldnt harm

Hey Burton.

One thing, this plant is not thorny in any way (i guess there are a few kinds).

All I did was let the plant sprawl, and let the snow bury it. I have reliable snow here (knocking on wood) and even in a dry winter we have a foot at least. Even up here I manage to grow bamboo stickly because of snow cover! If you dont get reliable snow, I would suggest putting the canes on the ground, and mulching with a few inches of leaves, just to make sure. Maybe even a tarp.

If I am remembering right, I planted this last year, or more likely the year before. THis is the only year I got a decent amount of canes and laterals. SO far one good bunch. I dont let the plant get too big though, so I am not hoping for a massive harvest. I think I see 6 clusters; not bad since i dont do much!

I have seen some odd hardiness information as well (but that goes with most plants in general IMO). I can tell you if the canes are n an exposed area (mine are in a "L" shaped side of the house) and above the snowline here, they die. IF they are in a protected spot, some canes seemed to make it quite well and flowered.

I can only assume theyd survive there, but a layer of leaves definitely shouldnt harm

Drew51,

How would you describe the flavor of a ripe wyeberry? Similar to a boysenberry, loganberry, red raspberry, or blackberry? I haven't tried a tayberry yet.

I would say that it tastes like a mix of raspberry and blackberry. More like a tart raspberry really. But not too tart once ripe, sweet and tart. You can tell it's a hybrid, unlike some. I think they have Tayberry ancestry, so probably taste similar. I think the purpose was to develop a more hardier Tayberry type fruit that is firmer. It is a lot firmer, but tends to crumble some. As do most very ripe raspberries. Slightly ripe it is tart, and at that stage may make better jam. Does not crumble either when just ripe. Flavor seems richer to me at this stage too.
IMHO the tartness of a blackberry with the sweetness of a raspberry. Leaning towards raspberry more than most hybrids.
Other hybrids might be better like Newberry. These first fruits may not be representative of mature flavor. It certainly is unique. I like it better than most raspberries, and I like raspberries.
So far my favorite raspberry is Fall Gold, just ripe it is tart and sweet, and has a deep complex flavor. It is unusual in that it has a Korean wild raspberry heritage. I'm not that impressed with regular raspberries. I may rip them out and plant more Fall Gold. I still though have many to try.
Plus again the first berries may not represent potential. I will keep them in a couple seasons, or at least one full season before deciding to keep them or not. I'm growing Caroline, Cascade Gold, Taylor, Prelude, Rosanna, Allen, Encore, Polka, Honey Queen, Kiwi Gold, Jewell, and Royality. The summer bearers will not have fruit till next year.

This post was edited by Drew51 on Wed, Aug 14, 13 at 14:23

If I could find a wyeberry, I probably give one a try. I think their trial number was QDE-1.

I'm growing caroline, cascade delight, anne, jewell, mac black, blackhawk, and double gold. The only ones I have tasted so far are caroline, anne, and royalty. Caroline and anne have a rich, tasty flavor (in my opinion), compared to the average blackberry, while royalty was not all that impressive in flavor (even the birds didn't like it). What I will say about royalty is that it fruited very well from just the bareroot stubs on all plants and has been the most vigorous grower of all the raspberry plants. If that's an indication of future production, I'll find a use for it. I had started with Heritage, but it had very little flavor and hated my clay soil, so I pulled that variety.

drew51,

How juicy are they (wyeberries and the other you mentioned, newberry) compared to raspberries? I like the juiciness of blackberries but often find them a little too tart (and raspberries not tart enough).

It's juicy! Look at the photo, it stained my pinky! I agree a trait I never thought about but you are corrrect in that observation BB are juicy compared to RB. I have yet to try the others so no comment (yet) on them.
Also as for the raspberry royality, mine never took, a replacement is coming. So it wasn't very vigorous! Yeah i also have Double Gold, and Crimson Night, yet to taste but will this fall!

After tasting many blackberries it's hard to describe raspberries as rich except Fall Gold. But I must admit I have tried very few so far.

Well, thanks! For the answer and your enthusiasm!

Drew51,

Did your wyeberry make it through the winter? If so and if you don't mind tip layering it, I'll send you a Siskiyou, if you don't already have one by now. I have two moved to pots that are doing really well and should be good to transfer later this year when they go dormant.

Jeremy

Sounds good Jeremy!

Yes, it made it, but advise protection for the winter. I have another promised out, so 2 is the limit for now, it is still a small plant. If i can tip root more than 2, i will. Tyler sent me some White blackberries, more a novelity, but all the same interesting.
Burbank's White and
Nettleton's Creamy White

Technically my wyeberry is an Anastasia Wyeberry.

Siskiyou blackberry from tip layering - 1st yr (2014). I need to remove the cane handle from last year.

This is the Siskiyou blackberry (parent) that I overwintered last year. It is blooming now (May 20th) but not as vigorously as some of my other trailing blackberries. If you look closely you can see this year's growth (primocanes) shooting out in every direction. I had one cane last year that was about as thick as a pencil. This year the canes have a diameter of about 1/2 inch and are about 3ft long already.

For comparison, this is my marionberry on its 3rd year (May 20) and it was overwintered last year. This is only half of it from last year because it didn't overwinter as well. I had a 20ft cane on it and lost 12ft of it... ugh. It is still putting out up to 3x the blooms as the Siskiyou though, but maybe that has to do with its age.

Awesome, all mine are set back. The wyeberry and many others show growth on surviving floricanes, but no primocanes or only a few just emerging on some. Triple Crown and Chester have 1 stubby primocane so far. No primocanes on the wyeberry yet. I'm 1/2 zone down from you, so fairly normal for here. 6a/5b.

My wyeberry overwintered well and is growing really well with several new canes. It even has a few blooms on it. Thanks Drew.

Hello friends could i have your Facebook profiles? I have a group of hobbyists who love the Rubus family would you like to join ??