Raspberry & Blackberry Plants

All Plants Certified Organic

Index to Brambles:
Potted brambles start shipping
June through Ocotober
Fall Raspberry Plants
Black and Purple Raspberry Plants
Blackberry Plants
Summer Red Raspberry Plants

2009 was an amazing year of growth for our nursery, farm and family. Thank you to all the wonderful customers and clients that supported us during that very busy year. I doubled our production of brambles from 2008 levels, but still have no spring inventory to offer you, our discerning customers. As it was last year, this year I won't have any brambles ready to ship until June, which is still a fine time to put them in (its when I plant them here on our farm). Hopefully I will have some spring offerings in 2011, but with our new son starting to romp around, I may well have more to do than just propagate brambles!

I have started to add some pictures of raspberry plants and their fruit in our websites photo gallery, which can be reached by clicking here
Photo Gallery , or on the link which is in the address bar at the bottom of this page. There's not much there right now as regards raspberries, but one of the tasks I've set our intern this year will be to document the plants and fruit.
Hopefully by late summer of this year it will be a nice collection.

All of our brambles come with a color flagging tape, which is consistent year to year. The cipher for the color coding is at the end of this page, and you may click here to go to it now.

All the brambles we sell are
self-pollinating

All of our plants and products are free of genetically modified organisms (GMO's)

If you want to read about the differences between summer and fall bearing raspberries, click HERE to go to the bottom of this page. I will discuss primocanes and floricanes, and hopefully make clear what they do in the life of a raspberry plant.

Red Raspberries

Fall Raspberry Plants

All Raspberry Plants $15 each

Autumn Britten Fall Red Raspberry

Autumn Britten is one of the earliest fall bearing raspberry varieties. Britten’s berries turn red in mid-July, right on the heels of the summer bearing raspberries. Large, sweet fruit are firm yet juicy, and the canes are upright and vigorous. This is our primary variety for farm production, as it makes large berries that come ripe earlier in the season. Half of the fall crop will ripen over a month, with the remaining half coming ripe from August through October. Autumn Britten is disease resistant and should have a low trellis, for though the canes are sturdy, they bow under the weight of the berries.
Hardiness zones 3a-9
Patent cultivar

Caroline Fall Red Raspberry

Caroline has large berries that are the sweetest red raspberries I have ever tasted. When ripe, the berries are velvety soft and deep red. Best for fresh eating, I find them okay for freezing, but cultivars with more firm berries do better. This is a vigorous grower, second only to Autumn Britten in its ability to jump up and start growing in spring. The canes will need to be supported due to their height (5') and fruit load, so a good trellis or support is important. The fruit begins to ripen just after Autumn Britten, which will usually be late July to early August here in Brown County, Indiana.
Hardiness zones 4-9
Patent cultivar

Autumn Bliss Fall Red Raspberry

Autumn Bliss (released in 1984) was the first fall red raspberry cultivar I planted when we decided to get into raspberry production. More productive cultivars have come along since then, but Autumn Bliss has shown a strong annual consistency and resistance to foul weather and heat. The fruit is excellent, very sweet, with firm berries excellent for fresh eating or freezing. Canes grow to about 4.5 to 5 feet tall, and I usually trellis them to keep fruit up off of the ground. Large berries, nice red color and a conic shape. Flavor is perhaps a bit better than Autumn Britten, though Britten is slightly more productive and uniform (they are sister cultivars from the same breeding program in East Malling, England). Of all the raspberries we grow, Bliss has been the constant favorite of my wife. Ripens before Caroline and Himbo Top (some overlap).
Hardiness zones 3a to 11.

Jaclyn Fall Red Raspberry

Jaclyn is another success of the the quad-state breeding cooperative between Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and Wisconsin. This lady was trialed on our farm in 2008 (along with Joan J), and it was a very nice surprise. The canes are moderately spiny, nothing to hurt your hands, though. The fruit is very difficult to detach (due to a deep, pointed receptacle) until the berry is ripe and ready to eat, and then it just comes right off. The color goes from bright red to a purplish red when ripe, and the fruit is very sweet and juicy with moderate firmness (similar to Autumn Bliss). The ripe berries are very sweet and firm. My daughters particularly like this raspberry, due to its color and texture. The berry shape is nice and unique, a fat conic much like a beehive hairdo, and the color was a new one to see in fall bearing raspberries (at least for me). Along with the other "sister" Joan J, Jaclyn ripened earlier than other cultivars I have growing on the farm, including Autumn Britten. Cane height is to 5 feet, fairly sturdy and vigorous, but still in need of staking or trellis to hold up the beautiful, heavy fruit.
Hardiness zone 3a to 8b.

Joan J Fall Red Raspberry

Joan J is the second of two new "sisters" to join our farm's raspberry production gardens. The most noticeable aspect of Joan J is that the canes are quite thorn-free. Along with Jaclyn it is now one of the earliest fall bearing red raspberries on our farm. I was quite impressed with its 2008 trial here at our farm. It had strong canes, excellent production of deep red, firm berries that were sweet and very large. Good suckering with very few spindly shoots. There didn't seem to be a peak production time, but we were able to pick from them by mid-July through frost in late October. While the canes were strong, I would still recommend a stake or trellis support due to fruit load when it ripens. The berries were very good, with good farm market response (who is picky about raspberries?). They were also the best for holding up to freezing, holding their shape better than others when thawed. My daughters had no problem demolishing them in the taste test.
Their only concern was if there were more.
Hardiness zone 3b to 8. Patent cultivar

Himbo Top Fall Red Raspberry

Himbo Top is a new Swiss cultivar that has Autumn Bliss as one of the parents. Berries are a bright, shiny red, large sized with a rich, sweet flavor. Sturdy canes reach to 5 feet tall, but do need trellising or staked in order to support the fruit load. Berries have a conic shape and are firm yet juicy. The berry color of Himbo also remains bright through ripening, with darkening only taking place when the berry is overripe. While I have not observed raspberry root rot on our farm (caused by Phytophthora fragariae var rubi), breeders have observed that Himbo remains unaffected by this fungus when it is present in the soil. Himbo Top begins to ripen about a week after Autumn Bliss, and has continued to produce until frost here at our farm.
Hardiness zone 4 to 8. Patent cultivar.

Anne Fall Golden Raspberry

Anne is a golden yellow, fall raspberry that I have started to increase here on our farm. It is the last of the fall raspberries to ripen, beginning in August here in Brown County, Indiana. It is not a heavy producer, and although it is hardy to zone 3, I would advise it as an experimental planting in zones 3-4a, due to its very late ripening time.
I believe Anne would produce well from zones 4b-9.
My daughters love its flavor, which is distinct from the red raspberries. It is mildly sweet, yet has an elusive, tropical fruitiness as you chew it up. The berries are large and glowing golden-yellow, and are produced on the ends of the canes. Like all of our fall raspberries, we have seen no bird predation on Anne. Moderately strong canes do best with support when fruit begins to ripen.
Hardiness zones 4a-12
Patent cultivar

Black and Purple Raspberry Plants

Jewell Black Raspberry

This is the Rambling Lady of our farm, naturalizing wherever I try to keep her in an orderly way. I have probably had to destroy more of these than any other plant on our farm, as they take aggressive advantage of my easy going nature in berry growing (they are no match for the bush hog). Unless you possess a totalitarian nature, plan on your Jewells becoming a tangle, and plant them in an appropriate location (a little bit away from your house). Birds love these, and they ripen a little before (but then extend past) the wild black raspberry season. Jewell is about twice to three times the size of wild black raspberries, with every bit of their flavor and rambunctiousness (they are not, however, as mean and thorny as the wild blackberries). It is pure heaven on earth to put a handful of these jet black berries in your mouth. These are the first of the brambles to ripen, so they take on a very heraldic nature here on our farm.
Hardiness zones 4b-8

Royalty Purple Raspberry

This raspberry is a very prolific bearer of VERY large, dusky purple raspberries. Royalty is a blend of red raspberry vigor and black raspberry habit, with the best flavors of its parents. Royalty ripens in early summer, just after black raspberries. Royalty grows like a black raspberry or blackberry, from a crown, relying on cane tip-rooting for propagation. Royalty does not spread vigorously via underground runners like summer red raspberries do, and it will usually produce a quarter more fruit per cane than summer red raspberries.
Hardiness zones 4-8

All Blackberry Plants $15 each

Apache Blackberry

The Apache blackberry was released in 1999 by the University of Arkansas (a center of dedicated blackberry breeding). It has an erect, strong form at maturity, but I have noticed the young canes on 1 and 2 year old plants to be a bit trailing. It has nice, medium-large berries that get very sweet when fully ripe. Like all blackberries, best flavor of fruit occurs when it is a dull black. Apache has performed well for us, making up half of our blackberry plantings. Apache is resistant to cane anthracnose, and I have not observed any foliage disease upon it since it has been growing here (first planted in 2000). Apache is thorn-free and the fruit comes ripe in July-August here in Brown County, Indiana.
Hardiness zones 5-9
Patent cultivar

Ouachita Blackberry

Ouachita is the latest release from the University of Arkansas’ blackberry breeding program (2006), and the latest addition to our farm's ongoing quest for excellent blackberry cultivars. Ouachita, pronounced WAH-shi-tah, is a very upright growing, vigorous, thornless blackberry. It should be tipped when canes get to 48” tall, to make it sturdier and more productive. However, trellising or staking may be needed to keep a full crop from leaning towards the ground. Fruit quality is excellent. Berries are firm, sweet and about the same size as Apache. Fruit matures beginning in late June to early July here in Brown County, Indiana, depending upon the spring weather. Yields seem a little better than Apache, but less than Triple Crown. Breeders and researchers have observed that Ouachita appears to be resistant to double blossom as well as orange rust infections. I have not observed these problems on our farm. Space 4 feet apart in the row.
Hardiness zones 5 to 10

Triple Crown Blackberry

This blackberry was released in 1998 by the USDA breeding program in Beltsville, MD. Triple Crown has been an excellent blackberry, and was the only blackberry cultivar to produce some fruit after the 2007 April Freeze (even the wild blackberries were fruitless that year). Triple Crown is a trailing blackberry, which means you have some options on how you would like to manage it. I have one area that has just become a tangle of canes (12'x12' roughly) and it produces a copious amount of fruit. I hack the canes out when they are done fruiting, while trying to keep the new canes from rooting and expanding this fruit monster. I also have a trellised area, where I can prune easily, and keep the canes tied up and neat. My neighbors have one that they train along their porches privacy lattice, allowing them to pluck berries as they relax in the shade cast by the canes. One plant has produced a good 22# of fruit, the berries being medium to large sized (better pruning gives consistently larger berries) with sweet flavor. Triple Crown is also thorn-free, and ripens a bit after Apache has started producing. It also has a longer harvest period than Apache.
Hardiness zones 5-10

Prelude Summer Red Raspberry

Prelude was first released in 1998, having been bred by Cornell University at the NYSAES in Geneva, NY. Prelude has consistently been the first red raspberry to ripen here on our farm, with over half the crop harvested before the end of June. Prelude has a medium to large berry, with a slightly conical shape and firm structure (the berries handle well and do not mash or deform when picked). The color is lighter red than most cultivars, and the flavor is excellent. Cool springs tend to induce a more spritely (read "tart") flavor, but this is seen in all summer red raspberry cultivars. The canes of Prelude have sparse spines, and the fruit is held well up for easy picking. Prelude will also, in most years, produce a light fall crop of berries on its primocanes (just like fall bearing raspberry plants). This cultivar suckers freely, so make sure to keep rows or clumps thinned to the strongest canes. Prelude reaches 4-5 feet tall.
Hardiness Zone 4-8 (Patented)

Nova Summer Red Raspberry

Nova was bred in Nova Scotia (1981), and is one of the more northerly hardy cultivars of red raspberry that I have come across. Very strong growing canes with medium to large fruit that is bright red and firm. Berry flavor is superb. Nova is very dependable and productive, and tolerates the up and down spring weather here better than any other cultivar. Yields are the most consistent of any of the summer red raspberry cultivars I have grown, and even in bad years I can count on Nova (except really bad, bad years, like April 2007, which took almost all of our spring blooming fruit crops). The canes of Nova seem to have the smallest spines of the three summer cultivars I sell. Like Prelude, Nova will produce a very light fall crop (on the primocanes) if growth has been good and the fall doesn't cool down too quickly. Nova is strong and vigorous, and suckers less than Prelude. Hardiness zone is 3 to 8.

Lauren Summer Red Raspberry

Lauren is a new release from the cooperative breeding programs of Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and Wisconsin. The berries are very large, bright red, and are the sweetest of all the summer cultivars I have tried. It also has the longest fruiting season (4 weeks) of any summer red raspberry I have grown. Berry shape is long conic with good firmness, and it tastes pretty good even when picked a little under-ripe (at the light red stage). Lauren does not sucker very heavily at all, so it spreads much less rapidly than Nova or Prelude. This might be considered an attribute for home growers, as the plant won't overcrowd its space or other plants nearly as fast as other summer raspberry cultivars. I have been very impressed with this cultivar (which is patented), and will be expanding our plantings of Lauren here on our farm. Lauren comes ripe after Prelude and overlaps Nova.
Hardiness zone is 5 to 8. (Patented)

What are primocanes and floricanes?

I have found these terms to be quite confusing to many people, but a quick explanation of what they refer to usually clears it up. I like to remember their definitions by the word structure: "Primo" means first or one, "flor" means flower, and "canes" mean just that. So we have "first-canes" and "flower-canes" when translated to English.
Primocanes ("first-canes") are the canes that grow up from the root crown beginning in spring. They are the youngest canes on a bramble at any time. All of the fall-bearing raspberries bear the majority of their fruit on their primocanes (the technical name for fall-bearing raspberries and other fall-bearing brambles is "primocane fruiting" raspberries).

Floricanes ("flower-canes") are canes on a bramble that have undergone one season of growth and dormancy. These are the canes that overwinter and flower in the springtime, producing their fruit in the early to mid-summer. Floricanes must go through a period of winter chilling and dormancy (in our temperate climates), and typically die away after fruiting of that cane has finished (at which point the immaculate gardener swoops in and prunes it away). The floricane is just a primocane that has gone through winter (just imagine it as graduating to the next grade).
The summer bearing raspberries bear all or most of their fruit on their floricanes (the technical name for summer raspberries and most blackberries is "floricane producing" brambles). Usually, to increase yields one will tip the primocanes of floricane-producing raspberries and blackberries, as this initiates branching and the formation of more lateral branches for flowering in the following spring. Some summer red raspberries (floricane-producing) do produce fruit on their primocanes, but it is usually a very small yield and only seen in the warmer zones of their hardiness range. It also goes to show that living things rarely like to stay in the nice little groups we'd like them to remain.

Cipher for bramble color tags

Summer Raspberries
Preluede.....green
Nova.....yellow with orange dots
Lauren........red
Royalty purple.....orange
Jewell black.....white

Fall raspberries
Polana....white with green dots
Joan J.....orange and white stripe
Jaclyn...........purple
Autumn Britten....red and white stripe
Autumn Bliss....blue and white stripe
Himbo Top......white with blue dot
Caroline................pink
Anne golden....yellow and white stripe

Blackberries
Triple Crown....black and white stripe
Ouachita......red with black dots
Apache....blue and black checker

Points about our different raspberry plants for your backyard.....

Raspberries need very little fertilizer compared to other crops, and often thrive in poorer soils in which it would be difficult to grow garden vegetables. The most important aspect for successful bramble production is good drainage. If you dig a hole, and fill it with water, it should drain away in a few hours. If it is still full after 24 hours, you can still plant there, but only in a raised bed or ridge.

All of the fall red raspberries we sell have done great here on our farm, earning us both money and loads of home-made jam. Joan J and Jaclyn are the earliest, while Autumn Britten and Autumn Bliss have been the most consistent producers over the past 5 years. Caroline has the sweetest berries, but is later in the season and definitely requires a good trellis system.

The Jewel black raspberry is an excellent berry for naturalizing, especially given that it occurs natively across much of the East and Midwest.

Blackberries are the most durable and hardy of the brambles, growing well on poorer soils, withstanding drought, heat, and other stresses. On our farm, I reserve the worst slopes for blackberry brambles. As long as the soil is not boggy or poorly drained, they thrive.

Here in southern Indiana, blackberries are a common, weedy plant of pastures and meadows, and produce berries that range from kerosene to sweet flavored. And, they are thorny, with the tall grass and weeds holding chiggers, as well. Thorn-less, sweet blackberries are quite a treat to pick, with the only scratching being that of your head, as you wonder why you didn't plant these low-care brambles earlier.

If you have overpopulated deer in your area, you may have to protect blackberries and other brambles from browsing damage.

Ripening order for RED RASPBERRY cultivars as observed on our farm
(these are estimated times, and temperature trends in spring can move forward or push back dates by as much as two weeks some years here in southern Zone 5):
Prelude: early June
Lauren: mid June
Nova: late June
Joan J: mid July to frost
Jaclyn: mid July to frost
Polana: mid July to late Aug.
Autumn Britten: mid July to frost
Autumn Bliss: early Aug to frost
Himbo Top: early Aug to early Oct
Caroline: early Aug to frost
Anne: early Aug to frost
Heritage: mid Aug to frost

Backyard Berry Plants

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