Blackberry varieties: an overview of our top 20

Blackberries can be very diverse and varied. It is therefore worthwhile to take a closer look at the various blackberry varieties.

The close with the Raspberries (Rubus idaeus) relatives Blackberries (Rubus fruticosus) are native to Eurasia and North America. For a long time they were only collected in the wild. Century also gained increasing importance as cultivated fruit. Blackberries have been growing ever since the first thornless varieties were imported to us from the USA in the 1950s in Europe no longer just a shadowy existence as a hedge and embankment plant, but also like to be in the garden cultivated.

Blackberry species: a brief overview

The blackberry belonging to the family of Rosaceae counts, encompasses a great many different types. These differ with regard to the most diverse parts of the plant, so they have, for example, diverse characteristics in the leaves or the thorns. This biodiversity is due to the fact that blackberries have widely ramified origins. For example, some species come from Eurasia, others from North America. Many different varieties, some of which are different species, were and are often used in breeding belong, crossed, which means that the great biodiversity is often difficult to oversee in the end is. With many blackberry varieties that can be bought in the plant trade, it is not so easy to find out which species they belong to. The good thing is: for hobby gardeners, the affiliation of a variety to its species has little significance in contrast to botanists. For this reason, the different species should no longer be the focus here, the following lines Rather, it is limited to the names of the varieties, as you will find them when you buy a blackberry plant in stores will.

Wild blackberries

Due to the enormous diversity of origins and species from which the various blackberry plants arise, there are a lot of different wild blackberries in our nature. With the next blackberries that you discover along the way, just pay attention to the shape of the leaves and any other features that you notice. If you do this in multiple locations, you will quickly find that there are big differences between the individual plants. If you like a wild blackberry, you can use this plant Incidentally, cut off a shoot, drive this cutting at home and then in your garden plants.

Note, however, that wild blackberries are usually heavily prickly and sometimes spread very quickly and over a large area. On the other hand, wild blackberries are usually very adaptable and have low demands. Wild blackberries, which can be bought in the gardening trade, do not belong to a certain variety like other plants. It is the cutting of any wild plant.

Blackberry varieties: Thornless, evergreen & upright blackberries

Now we want to give you a closer look at some of the most popular and best, as well as some of the blackberry varieties that we believe are a little too highly praised. We start with the prickly varieties. Incidentally, within each category, the varieties are sorted according to maturity, starting with the early maturing ones.

'Silvan': very early ripening, slow growing variety; very large, very tasty berries; high frost resistance, but very susceptible to tendril disease.

'Choctaw': moderately high-yielding, upright plant with relatively short tendrils; very large fruits with good taste; sensitive to frost.

'Wilson's Morning': from the end of July; medium strong, growing upright with few prickly tails; small to medium-sized, sweet berries with many seeds; Lack of water during fruit ripening can result in small fruits.

'Theodor Reimers' (also called 'Himalaya'): ripening from late July to autumn; very productive, tried and tested variety; prickly, very long, frost-sensitive tendrils; undemanding regarding the soil; very sweet, aromatic and juicy, albeit slightly smaller berries.

Thornless / thornless blackberry varieties

From a botanical point of view, blackberries do not have thorns, as is often assumed, but rather spines. But whatever you call them, the blackberry's prickly defense instruments are well known and can be quite annoying. This is why the thornless blackberry varieties are becoming increasingly popular. We would like to introduce you to a few:

'Waldo': high-yielding, very early-ripening variety with a long harvest period; large, very tasty fruits with very small seeds; medium strong, compact growing; can therefore be planted a little closer.

'Loch Tay': is related to 'Loch Ness', but matures earlier and only for a short time; upright tendrils; Berries are a bit smaller and taste good; therefore, in our opinion, better suited for commercial fruit growing than for home gardens.

'Loch Ness' or 'Nessy': ripens from early / mid-July to late August; medium strong, semi-upright growing branches; very large, firm berries; aromatic-sweet taste; very richly bearing; susceptible to downy mildew and blackberry upsets.

,Jumbo': very high-yielding, strong-growing variety; very large, soft fruits that do not taste particularly good.

'Asterina': robust plant with very large, firm fruits and a very sweet taste; medium vigorous.

'Navaho': ripens from late July / early August to late September; large, shiny fruits with a very good, aromatic taste; very strong upright, long tail; robust variety; also blooming beautifully pink, therefore high ornamental value.

'Black Satin': from the beginning of August to mid-October; medium to strong growing upright; very richly bearing; shiny black fruits with a typical aroma and moderate taste; somewhat susceptible to frost and disease.

'Chester Thornless': very vigorous, climbing variety with large, good-tasting berries; ripening late and bearing until the first frost; high ornamental value due to beautiful flowers.

'Thornless Evergreen': medium-sized, firm fruits with a sweet-sour, aromatic taste; resistant to diseases of the rod; slightly sensitive to frost and susceptible to blackberry rust.

'Thornfree': vigorous; slightly tart, aromatic berries; Taste not overwhelming; large, very juicy fruits; sensitive to tendril disease.

Evergreen blackberry varieties

Most blackberry varieties shed their leaves, depending on the weather conditions, in the course of late autumn or the beginning of winter. Some varieties such as 'Theodor Reimers' or 'Thornless Evergreen' are often referred to as “evergreen”, as the latter name suggests. This is not entirely correct, since evergreen plants gradually change their leaf dress unnoticed. Rather, these blackberry varieties are evergreen, as they do not shed their leaves until spring. At this time of year, however, new leaves are already being formed. Apart from a short transition phase in which the plant has both brown, dead leaves and new, green leaves, these blackberry varieties are actually "evergreen".

Blackberries growing upright

In addition to the climbing blackberry varieties, there are also upright ones. While the climbing varieties prefer to grow over a wall, fence or scaffolding, the upright varieties can do without a climbing aid. 'Choctaw', 'Wilsons Früh', 'Loch Tay', 'Navaho' and 'Black Satin' are some of these upright growing varieties, which, by the way, are cut differently than their climbing counterparts.

New blackberry varieties

In plant breeding, plants are constantly crossed with others in the hope of developing a new, better variety. Even among the varieties already described there are some that have not been around for long and the older competition due to better taste or greater disease resistance do. In this section we would like to introduce you to the most curious new breeds.

'Baby Cakes‘: Special cultivation of Brazelberry; Blackberry plants are like a small blueberry bush that can be grown in pots; Visually more attractive than other blackberries, but it can hardly keep up in terms of yield.

'Cascade' / 'Black Cascade': bushy, slow-growing variety that can be cultivated as a traffic light, but also in beds if overhanging shoots are supported; medium-sized, sweet fruits; Tails are prickly in young plants, after pruning the prickles decrease.

'Reuben': carries just like autumn raspberries on the annual shoots; Harvest time is therefore very late compared to other varieties (from around the beginning of September); after the harvest, all rods can be removed close to the ground; medium to strongly upright growing, prickly rods; sweet, aromatic fruits; can even carry on annual rods one more time in summer if these are not cut off.

Blackberry varieties: black or red fruits

All blackberry varieties described above traditionally bear black fruits. By crossing blackberries with raspberries, varieties with red fruits have also been bred. The decision as to whether these are then counted among the blackberries, among the raspberries or whether we shouldn't actually have to find a new name, is not in our hands. We have found out about the currently best-known, so-called red-fruity blackberry for you:

'Dorman Red': Crossing of a special Rubus-Art with the raspberry variety 'Dorsett‘; Fruits are red, resemble raspberries and, like summer raspberries, grow on biennial wood (the plant is cut like a summer raspberry); The growth is reminiscent of a blackberry plant.

Tip for 'Dorman Red': We only recommend this self-fertile plant to gardeners who are already experienced with raspberries and blackberries. Because the requirements of this plant neither correspond one hundred percent to what is generally recommended for raspberries, nor to the recommendations for blackberries. We therefore advise gardeners who still need a lot of information about caring for their plants to choose a classic raspberry or blackberry variety.

Our dearest Varieties of berries for the garden (with raspberries, strawberries, currants & Co.) we have compiled here in a special article.