Today I refound a wild giant blackberry variety that I first ran across on our property when I was a kid (I only ever saw one or two little plants in one specific spot). We have the usual wild blackberry and black raspberry brambles, but this thing is very different. The small vines are string-like with small rounded leaves but the berries are three to four times the size of our blackberries, and the flavor is better. I tied flagging tape onto the plants, which are nearly hidden by weeds, and I'll transplant them this winter.
Any idea if this is a wild species or maybe an old commercial variety? As I said the vines are about as thick as garden twine and the leaves differ from the wild ones. Hopefully they will bulk up if removed from competeing weeds.
Is there any trick to starting from seed?
- applestar
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Largest blackberry-looking berries I've seen in catalogs was called Tayberry. These have elongated berries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tayberry
I'm picking my thornless Triple Crown blackberries now (2nd pint in two days) from 3 original plants. I have a few "wild" incredibly thorny blackberry plants (which I'd decided to replace because I'd had enough of the thorns).
Triple Crown's berries are at least 2 times the size of the other one, and it's more forgiving when picked early enough to need a little tug. The thorny one is sour unless the berry falls off at a touch when picking, though when fully ripe, it IS scrumptious. We've decided though, that we could live without it, and I'm going to redouble my efforts to eradicate the thorny brambles.
I'm picking my thornless Triple Crown blackberries now (2nd pint in two days) from 3 original plants. I have a few "wild" incredibly thorny blackberry plants (which I'd decided to replace because I'd had enough of the thorns).
Triple Crown's berries are at least 2 times the size of the other one, and it's more forgiving when picked early enough to need a little tug. The thorny one is sour unless the berry falls off at a touch when picking, though when fully ripe, it IS scrumptious. We've decided though, that we could live without it, and I'm going to redouble my efforts to eradicate the thorny brambles.
Last edited by applestar on Thu Jul 14, 2011 4:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- Super Green Thumb
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I like Marionberries the best. The berries can be over an inch long, but you have to deal with the razor wire.
This photo is from a few years ago. I moved most of my cane fruit and they have not fully recovered.
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Marionberriesandpeaches001-1.jpg[/img]
Eric
This photo is from a few years ago. I moved most of my cane fruit and they have not fully recovered.
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Marionberriesandpeaches001-1.jpg[/img]
Eric