Years ago I ordered blackberries from a catalogue which were supposed to grow in zone 3. Yes, they grew but they fruit on 2nd year wood and because they had to regrow from the root every year we never had a berry altho would have vines.

Some push hardiness zone just to make a sale....I have one plant put in from a BC seedling last year, [again] after giving up trying several times, I get seedlings from a friend, he always pushes me to plant them and sometimes I break down..LOL.
This plant now I have covered with leaves and insulation..will see what happens this time?

Konrad

Interesting thread. I've been looking into blackberries on the prairies lately, and I see that Konrad's been trying to grow them for awhile, because I came across a thread from 2007 where he was trying to grow blackberries (I'm assuming the same guy).

Anyhow, I know someone in Edmonton who tried growing wild BC blackberries -- said they lived two years, died the third, but never even bloomed. He gave some seedlings to another person who had them live three years before losing them, again without ever blooming. I know there are now hardier varieties than wild blackberries, though still only rated to zone 4 or so (Illini Hardy seems to be rated the hardiest).

I want to give them a try, as does the person who tried a few years back with the BC wild blackberries. So my question is what is most tender, roots or shoots? If the roots die out then it seems planting them next to a house might keep the roots from dying, assuming they were watered well in the fall and mulched. If the shoots are the issue (and I realize they flower on second-year wood so keeping shoots alive is vital to get flowers and fruit) then would bending them over in the fall and heavily mulching be enough to keep them alive? Or would you actually have to cover them with soil? Or would that even that be enough?

Well, I think I'm going to try anyhow, but I'm interested in hearing what other people have tried and maybe had some success with. Or failed at, as that would help to know too.

Hi Don,

Although, I have not grown blackberries, laying them down to the ground for the winter and covering with mulch is the way to go, it's the tops that will prove to be most tender. Prior to winter, I had laid down the Jewel black raspberry by placing bricks upon the branches and when the snow had arrived, I heaped that upon the plant ... it is very well snuggled in with probably 20 inches of snow covering. I hope we soon begin our spring meltdown!

Terry

Twrosz, thanks for the idea about the bricks to hold the canes down. Also for the tops being most tender, that will likely play a role in where the blackberries are planted, opens up a new set of possibilities actually.

Don, I'll take photos of Jewel in fruit ...

I'm still looking to find Lowden Black, just no luck!

Terry

twrosz, thanks for the info. Do these black raspberries (Jewel, Lowden Black) taste more like raspberries or blackberries? I've always assumed they are raspberry-like. Or are they a reasonable knock-off for true blackberries??

Or are they something unique in their own right? I grow yellow raspberries (Honeyqueen?) that are very different than the red raspberries I grow. Are the black raspberries also a unique taste?

Don, I can yet only answer upon the Wyoming Black, it being unique and more richly flavored than red raspberries and better than any store bought blackberries, I don't think I've ever tasted garden fresh blackberries. I had gotten scratched and snared one too many times by WB and had gotten rid of this variety ... though, I did cross it with a thornless red raspberry and now have some spineless plants with similar flavor to WB ...

Oh, I had also grown Royalty, though even with being laid down, the canes would often blacken, so I gave up!

Lowden Black is said to be rated excellent for flavor, size and of good hardiness ... I so want to find these!

I really like Honey Queen. I gave Kiwi Gold a try, though it has not proven hardy.

Terry

I had fresh blackberries right off the shrub when I was in Victoria one year. They were amazing.

Same me, in Vancouver and Stanley park.

I just checked with Greenland after talk show today, on their website, they have Ribes, Chester Thornless...these are zone 5-8...I'll ask why they are bringing them in...please do the same....they might get the message then?

I had spotted Blackberry plants through Johnnys Select Seeds out of Maine I think. I don't know anything about them except that they had them listed for zone 4. I think in general Blackberries are a zone 5 limit for cold temperatures.

I wrote to Greenland and go a answer...

We do bring in tender plants not suited for our zone if we have tried them and have had success. We wouldn�t however bring in plants that would have be zone 6-9. Plants that are zone 4 or 5 require a protected area of the yard and winter protection. I live on an acreage � hour east of the city where it is much colder than Sherwood Park and have had lots of success with zone 4 & 5 material. We have many customers that have had success and are producing fruit with the blackberries you have mentioned so at their request we have brought them in but we only offer a 90 day guarantee on them.

I think they ("they" meaning all garden centres and department or grocery stores that bring in non-hardy material) should clearly label these types of plants as "not normally hardy in this region" or "requires special care to survive the winter" or something to that effect. I do like that they stock some of these experimental varieties though, I get a kick out of trying to beat the odds with some of them. In spring 2009 I bought two Chester blackberries (I knew they weren't hardy)from Home Depot -- one died in winter 2009/10, the other survived and set about three dozen berries last summer, though only one berry ripened before the first hard freeze of the fall turned the others to mush. I had a lot of fun for the $20 or so it cost me! And maybe the survivor made it through this winter too?... guess I'll know soon enough.

If you're willing to try your hand at starting plants from seed then Gardens North in Nova Scotia sells wild Mountain Blackberry seed that they claim can be grown in zone 2 even! I'm a bit skeptical myself, but they have good ratings on the garden watchdog. What do you guys think?

Here is a link that might be useful: Gardens North

Hi, I'm new to this forum, and this thread caught my eye because I too have been looking for a hardier blackberry. Four years ago, I purchased one from Dominion Seed House named Perron. It is a thornless blackberry, which they have listed at zone 3. It bloomed on both old and new wood, but it requires a very long summer for the berries to ripen. In its third year, we had some heat in September, and I was able to harvest about 6 cups of delicious berries. That was a bumper crop for this plant! Another issue I had with it was the suckering. In the plant description, it is said to be non-suckering, and for its first few summers, that seemed to be the case. But in 2010, all the main canes died and it suckered in a ten-foot radius. It's too early to tell if it made through the winter this year.

I have also grown black raspberries - an unknown variety that gets shared through the gardens in this area. The taste is not comparable to a blackberry. It's good in its own way, but more tart and seedier. Its extreme thorniness finally earned it a place on the compost pile.

NorthernFruit -- those mountain blackberries look identical to what grows wild at my brother's place in southeastern Ontario (zone 5). They are very thorny but totally hardy. When I visited in mid-August last year, the berries were at kind of a mid-ripe stage -- many tasty berries to eat, but scads more yet to ripen. Since his tomatoes ripen at least a month earlier than mine, I think even these wild blackberries would have issues of ripening on the prairies, even if they proved winter-hardy.

I live in zone 3a and would love to grow blackberries. But I've been searching the web on hardiness and find it so contradictory. One site says Chester's are hardy in zone 3, but another site said hardy only to zone 6 - quite a difference. Has anyone had success growing the Illini blackberries? Again I found hardiness ranges of 3 and 6. Any help or thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

In addition to hardiness, consider your growing season. Many plants that will survive for me will never bear fruit...well, maybe once every 10 years...due to rarely having a long enough season to ripen the fruit.

Yes..this really boils down to it, now they need to breed "early ripening" into them!

DonnieJean, Yes a challenge, need winter protection and a bit of luck, but oh so yummy! Here's some Chester blackberries grown in Zone 3a last year:

{{gwi:102836}}

I got 400-500 berries off two plants last year, the long warm fall allowed pretty much every berry to ripen. There's a long discussion of things here:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/farnorth/msg0300573215740.html?53

Hi all, just looking up blackberry hardiness and well, saw this thread.

I tried for years to get blackberries to grow where I am - 20-25 below is fairly common here, and sure enough, none survived more than 2 years.

In 1998 I bought 2 plants at 1 place and one at another (don't recall variety) and only one lived.

It's now 14 years later and that one plant has become a 50' row of extremely hardy and tasty blackberries. There are literally THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of berries.

A local friend said the same thing - he grows native prairie plants and could never get blackberries to grow - except this particular mutant. It is a bush variety, thornless.

Randy

Oh, and if there are any volunteer testers in Zones 3 or 4 that want to try this mutant, I will ship cuttings in a sealed bag, or I will try to root them - you need only pay shipping to see how far north this mutation will grow.

Has anybody taken Randy's generous offer?
In spring, walking into Canadian Tire, there was this Chester looking at me, ...well guess what, I adopted it! Low and behold this plant has some fruit turning black, about half the size of yours, Don.
Is this normal for a newly planted blackberry?

Konrad, fruit on a newly planted blackberry is impressive since they normally fruit on year-old wood (from the previous season). Just be sure to leave berries on the canes for several days after they have turned fully black, so they reach maximum flavour and minimum tartness.

My vine planted in 2009 died to the ground this spring, but has put up vigorous new growth, but it won't produce fruit this year.

My vine planted in 2010 has loads of berries on it, but they are still very green and will need at least several more weeks before they ripen.

Randy, I missed your post earlier this summer. I'd be happy to try some of your cuttings if you have some already rooted. If not, I'd like to try some next summer (it's too late to root something here and have it survive the winter).

Randy,

I don't know how customs will handle a sealed back but I'd be happy to pay the shipping and try out a small seedling in the fall! Message me if interested.

This picture, [Chester] from the 24th. the plant was put in this spring,..will see what it will do over winter.

Don, thanks for the berries you brought to Devonian, I shared it with other, ..they were nice!

RandyR217,

I tried to send an email but your address is not set up. I would like to trade for your black berries. Maybe I have something you'd like. Please send me an email.

I am in the Edmonton region and would love, love to grow some Loganberries. Not to be confused with dewberries, blackberries, or black raspberries. My question, has anyone successfully grown a loganberry crop that actually produces fruit here?

I haven't heard of anyone growing loganberries but maybe someone who has will respond. I don't see any reason why they wouldn't grow here if treated like blackberries ie lots of winter protection. You would want a variety with training canes rather than upright canes since you would need to lay them on the ground and cover them for the winter. They are supposed to ripen earlier than blackberries, so that would be a plus. Finding a source in Canada might be an issue.

Randy,

I would love to try your blackberries. I am a zone 3b. I can't find your email to message you could you please email me at lmcinroy@gmail.com?

Leanne

RandyR217,

I tried to send an email but your address is not set up. I would like to trade for your black berries. Maybe I have something you'd like. Please send me an email.

Any updates from anyone on blackberries?

Had been a very tough winter and 'Balsors' fared worse than the previous couple years. A few plants had survived above the snowline, though others only retaining branches that had been under the snow and these having produced fruit. If we'd just have a 'normal' winter, I think 'Balsors' might do okay, but then extremes is what Alberta is all about! Anyways, this year, as the new canes developed, I encouraged them to lean and grow parallel to the ground and thus making it easier to lay them down. These are mean prickly beasts and if I don't finally get a good crop next year, I'm just gonna rip them out, carefully that is, lol. It's been a lot of work tending them and takes up space I could otherwise dedicate to something productive. 'Purple Dream' also has beastly thorns and the plants continue to push very long vigorous new growth, so makes me wonder just how hardy they'll be?

FrozeBudd, I am in a cold zone 2a and I have successfully wintered Chester Thornless outside but we don't get fruit because our ripening days are not long enough. Chester is thornless and semi trailing so no wounds when I pick. I have moved the two plants into my greenhouse that is unheated from Oct to April. This year is the first year I have blackberries but they are laid down and covered with straw. That said it still gets -40 in there when the winter temps. drop. These are the last ones that I picked yesterday. I am finding that the berries start ripening the first of August and I have been picking on and off since then.

So those blackberries start growing earlier I assume in the greenhouse? I was in Vancouver end of July and lots of theirs were ripe already. I thought they were native because they are everywhere but apparently they are just invasive. So your berries didn't ripen outside or they didn't grow at all? Because if they didn't grow, then I'm assuming your flower buds couldn't handle the cold... btw, where do I find that plant? Thanks.

They produced flowers and berries outside, but they never ripened. I have a friend who had the same problem, year after year they never ripened. End of July in Vancouver equates to end of August here or later and we can have frost by then.

The plants outside needed to by laid down and mulched. I got all my plants from Canadian Tire in the spring.

Ubro, yes, that seems like a great method to ensure one gets a reliable harvest of blackberries. Also, with being planted directly in the ground within the greenhouse, they'll develop into strong full sized plants. I once had done a bit of an experiment as to how well 12 inches of straw would insulate the ground from the cold. I use to grow tall bearded iris that were a bit on the tender side, these I would cover heavily with straw. Anyways, I had stuck a thermometer under the straw and after a prolonged cold snap of several mornings of at least -35 C without snow, I had checked and the thermometer had read -5 C !

Ubro: where do you get those blackberries from? I’d like to try.

Canadian Tire had carried 'Chester' this spring, Whiffletree Nursery also has it along with numerous other varieties and tons of other interesting fruits, plants I received from them were of good quality.

Nice. Look what I found on that very same site you told me to look at.

Balsor's Hardy Black

Zone 3b

This is the only variety we have found completely hardy in our climate. It produces bountiful crops of delicious berries over a long period. Outstanding!

im going to order it next spring.

I've had 'Balsors' for five years and it's been a real learning curve. The beastly prickly canes are a bit slow to come into production and are not reliably winter above the snowline in our extremely variable and tortured zone 3 / 4. Okay, for the most part, they seem to be able to take the cold temperatures pretty well, though spring desiccation is the problem. Though, they CAN thrive and successfully fruit if young developing canes are encouraged to lean over and grow parallel to the ground as they develop, they become very sturdy and you won't be able to do so without breaking them off at the base or higher up if you wait too long! The fruit is yummy, though must be left to become very soft before full flavor develops. Mine are still on trial and if I do not get a substantial crop next summer, they'll be replaced with something else! 'Purple Dream' (from Whiffletree) had grown crazy vigorous for first year plants with some canes approaching 8 ft long! They seemed to have hardened off decently well despite the miserable Sept and Oct we've thus have had. I will lay these to the ground, it appears they could be very productive and the few fruits granted this summer had rather awesome rich flavor!

That’s exciting to hear. Hmmm... eight ft is insane. The ones I saw in Vancouver were probably three ft high and were covered in amazing blackberries late July.

Because I am so busy in summer, I am thinking of turning my raised garden into a berry patch. The bottom is blocked off with fabric so the plants can’t escape. I am thinking blackberries, raspberries and blueberries or possibly strawberries.

Do you have any suggestions for those? My box seems to get great snow cover all winter as the sun is blocked by lilacs in the front and sometimes drifts pile up a good 2ft high on it.

Sounds like balsors may not be worth the trouble? I wish I knew if your purple dream was hardy. Don’t you cut the plants back down to the ground every year? Or do they need old wood to produce?

Yes, I'd skip the 'Balsors', as for 'Purple Dream', I'm anxious to find out how it handles our winters. As mentioned, I'm gonna lay the canes / vines down to the ground, though will leave some remaining above the snowline to indicate true hardiness, yes as they produce on second year wood. Both of the above two varieties also have vicious thorns and I ain't kidding!! I was excited to try AAC Eden red raspberry, the size is very impressive, though somewhat bland, maybe flavor will improve as plants establish, if it proves hardy that is!

'Kent' is a good old standby heavy producing June bearing strawberry that also gives a bit of a later crop. There's some good everbearings, though 'Albion' was a real bust for us, plants grew very well, though only produced anything of significance late in the season when it was time for frost. As for blueberries, I'd like to know if anyone has a productive patch of hybrid named varieties?

Thanks for the info. I found another site that says their blackberries are zone 3!! Gonna give it a try.

http://www.nutcrackernursery.com/berries-fruit-trees.php

Plant Love - I don't know if the hardiness ratings are accurate on that website. For example:

Blackberry 'Illini Hardy' RUBUS

Available

This variety (Illiny Hardy) of thormy BlackBerry is winter resistant. The fruit shrub is vigorous and its hardiness factor is -23 degrees Celsius.

Hardiness zone: 3

Something doesn't add up here...but might be worth a shot!

Yes, I had also come across info on 'Illiny Hardy' that stated it lacked winter hardiness. Though, 'Hardy Black' possibly has some tougher genes. I really don't know if there is a blackberry hardy enough to thrive on the Canadian prairie without being given winter protection or at least being covered over with snow.

Snow cover is fine...I think I will try this year.

Considering that 'Balsors' had a number of canes survive through the brutality of last winter, laying them down to the ground would likely see a decent good crop be produced.