Blackberries and Raspberries for zone 6b

Hi All,
I want to get some blackberry and raspberry bushes now while they are on sale. Gurney's has Loch Ness, Ouachita, Triple Crown, and Black Satin on sale until the 25th. Any advice on which ones to get for zone 6b? And what to do so they will make it through the winter?


Thanks so much,
NYrunningback

nyrunningback - I grow black satin blackberries and Heritage raspberries in 6a and they are doing great. See the thread 'first blackberries of the year' in this category. My blackberries are wrapping up and my raspberries are just starting to ripen this week.

I have always planted both berries in the spring so I don't know if it is too late to put them in now or not. If I were to plant now I would keep them well watered and mulched. After they go dormant I would cut them back to the ground. This late in the year you probably won't have many berries next year anyway as their won't be much of a root system on there to support much up top. The way I see it their energy is better spent building a root system than ripening fruit. The blackberries will send out new growth next year which will have blackberries the following year. Heritage raspberries grow on 1st year wood and again the following year if you let them. Most raspberries aren't like that. If you planted this variety now you would probably have raspberries this time next year and the following spring if you leave the canes. I grow mine for a fall only harvest. I cut them to the ground when they go dormant and they come back with a vengence the next spring. 6 Heritage raspberry plants one spring became over 150 the following spring.

Thanks Kerry for the numbers! I was thinking of getting 6 Heritage each for self and step dau - now I think 6 total is fine! I wanted the Heritage so could mow them back in the fall. I'll split them with her! Thanks again! ~ Suzi ♥

Suzi,

We are up to almost 1 lb of raspberries per day from the 6 plants I planted last spring.
http://www.kerrysgarden.us/?p=115

Kerry - my what a cutie you have on that page!! mmmmmmmmmmmm you got me going! Planting some in the spring for sure! Can have tomato salad (tom w/ little italian dressing on them!) for supper and Rasp for dessert!! Sounds absolutely delicious!!

Will be simply marvelous in a few yrs when my fruit trees all start producing too, YUMMY! Maybe I will end up getting 6 ea for her and me too, I have this incredible urge to eat fruit all yr round! ~ Suzi :)

We have fruit just about all summer. No fruit trees other than the mulberry though. Well I do have a dwarf apricot but I don't ever expect it to have fruit with our late frosts. I got it more for the memories of apricot trees from my childhood.

The strawberries are first towards the end of May, then the mulberries and a few blueberries in June. The blackberries start around the first week of July and just as they are wrapping up the raspberries start in early-mid August and go till frost. During the blackberry harvest the day neutral strawberries start producing too. There is no reason we shouldn't have fruit enough to last the year.

I have one gooseberry, three cranberry and two currant bushes in containers that are still young. Not sure where they will fit into the mix if and when they start producing.

Kerry,
Have an apricot, yellow + white nectarines, gala + pink lady apples, mulberry, stella + ranier + sweet september cherries, red + blue seedless grapes, strawberries and blackberries.

Next yr, planning to add: plums, white seedless grapes and raspberries. Maybe more. Adding some every yr till I get all I want. Hmmm - is it possible to get all I want?!!! All are dwarf, of course, except possibly the mulberry. The bud graft didn't make it but the rootstock is growing great. Reminds me, I need to contact that nursery and ask...

I do expect the apricot to give me some. It is supposed to be hardy to zone 5, just like all my other fruit trees. But, I can understand if we have the kind of weather we did this yr, with snow storms in May, and they don't give fruit.

When I was getting the fruit trees and berries, I tried to plan it out so that one is fruiting, followed by another, then another also. I need to write them out and see what timespan is missing... Later, Suzi :)

Heritage Raspberries and Choctaw Blackberry root cane are great, but watch out. I planted five years ago and pruned back on the second year down to the recommended 8 - 10 inches on the raspberries only. I found the next summer they were coming up in all kinds of places in my cane vine bush and ground friut garden. They have all but taken over. They got way out of hand. I am pulling plants this fall and not trimming back. I never trimmed back the blackberry canes and have good control over there growth keeping them in a cane line. Blackberry pic...

Raspberries sure do travel. My folks planted 6 plants and within a few years they were taking over the entire garden.
I put in 6 Blackberry plants (3 Chester Thornfree & 3 Illini) and they pretty much stay in place. I may have to uproot 2 or 3 wandering root sprouts from the Illini and a few stem-tip rootings from the Chester each spring when I trim them back, but that's it.
Andy P

You can come and take all the blackberries you want HERE! I can't keep them OUT OF MY GARDEN! I hack them back from the pasture fence by my mailbox 3 times a year with a machete to no avail! AHHHH!

Every plant you see in the background of this pic is a blackberry coming over the pasture fence and trying to come over the road, they are even going up that cottonwood.