Raspberry & Blackberry Plants

Index to Brambles:
Potted brambles start shipping in June
Fall Raspberry Plants
Black and Purple Raspberry Plants
Blackberry Plants

Fall Raspberry Plants

All Raspberry Plants $12 each

Autumn Britten Fall Red Raspberry
low inventory--12 plants left, in 2 gal pots

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. zones 3a-9
Patent cultivar

Caroline Fall Red Raspberry

SOLD OUT for 2008 season

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 Autumn Britten does 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 here in Brown County, Indiana. zones 3a-9
Patent cultivar

Polana Fall Red Raspberry

SOLD OUT for 2008 season

Developed in Poland, this is an excellent fall bearing red raspberry, and works well in tight spots or small growing areas. Polana is very short statured, reaching fruiting height at 3 feet. This means no trellis is needed, and the fruits are borne at the tops of the canes. Polana is the first of the fall bearers to come into full fruit, with opalescent red, dome shaped, and tasty berries. At our latitude, Polana is slightly susceptible to sunscald, which is a serious concern for market growers, less so for jam makers. I have found that Polana avoids sunscald damage when I plant them just east of a tree line or tall (15' ) hedge.  In doing this, they receive afternoon shade, yet plenty of AM sun to make a fine crop of tasty berries.  zones 3a-9
Patent cultivar

Anne Fall Golden Raspberry
low inventory

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.  zones 4a-9
Patent cultivar

BACK TO TOP

Black and Purple Raspberry Plants

Jewell Black Raspberry

SOLD OUT for 2008 Season

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.   zones 4b-8

Royalty Purple Raspberry
sold out for 2008 season

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.  zones 4-8

BACK TO TOP

 
Blackberry Plants

All Blackberry Plants $15 each

Apache Blackberry

Low Inventory

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.  zones 5-9

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.
zones 5-9

BACK TO TOP

 

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

Raspberries need very little fertilizer, 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.  Polana is the earliest, and needs no trellis, while Autumn Britten has been the most consistent producer over the past 4 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.