The Wild Treasure plant on right is very vigorous. After a number of wraps it was tipped. That multiplied the number of tips several fold which required more tipping. The plant in the back left, variety unknown maybe Obsidian, but moderate vigor didn't require tipping. Black Diamond on the other hand is a compact dwarf and thornless. So easy to work with in a small space. No tipping needed in my system. It still has a fair/good yield and fruit as good as any other I grew. Really not sure how yield compares to others. Probably not quite as good as some. I really just want a few berries for variety. And the fruit, to me, is way better than most blackberries. This shows the potted growing system better. Don't think Black Diamond is in this picture. Wild Treasure is second from right. It has thin, long, vigorous canes requiring many warps or tipping. Pots about 3 gal actual volume. Train by running one shoot up each stake, down the other side, and around to form a wreath. This post was edited by fruitnut on Wed, Jan 15, 14 at 10:42

In general, there's only one kind of Boysenberry. The thornless variety is supposedly a bud sport which I guess makes it a separate variety. Cane berry varieties in general are crosses and the two parents are documented. All propagation is done vegetatively so the plant's characteristics are set in stone. Boysenberries have a red raspberry somewhere in their lineage which accounts for the small amount of redness in the berries as well as a distinct taste. I think it tastes superior to Marionberries although the latter are firmer and more suitable for shipment and processing. They will never grow anything like a bush. They are trellised to support the long vines and to allow you to distribute the vines to prevent too much congestion and get sunshine to the leaves. Allowed to grow wild the vines would flop on the ground or creep thru bushes or whatever. What you have to deal with is the yearly removal of the spent floracanes. You can keep them easily separated by leaving the primocanes on the ground and only put them up after the old floracanes have been removed. Much easier than getting them all wrapped up together and having to unwind the old ones. Although with erect varieties of blackberry you will have to do that since the canes are stiff and unflexible.

Yuppers. I'm growing Prime Jim this season. Pretty darned hardy. It was leaving out nicely, sending out some nice side canes when it was ravaged by either a rabbit or a rat right back down to a single cane with no leaves. Traps came out, and we surrounded it with 3' high hardware cloth. That was about 4 weeks ago, and it is again, leaving out very nicely. Amazing, I thought it was a goner. I know both Prime Jim and Prime Jan should do well here. I would certainly email the U of Ark to see if Prime Ark will also grow. I'm also trying Chester to see if it does well. Now, if we could just get a thornless, pime cane bearing blackberry that was sweet and juicy, we'd be in business! Patty S.

Hi...i got several of the Prime Ark Freedom Blackberries, one plant has been in the ground 2 years the other 2 just since this March.......the newly planted one is growing rather good with 1 Blackberry almost ready to pick , however that is it for the plant as i'm assuming these are Primocanes, unless these are laterals off off the Floricanes ? This was a 2 inch plug i got there was very little growth so all this green growth i would assume is just laterals but as far as the rest of the season goes since this is a double cropping blackberry and like a Raspberry the Fall Crop would be on the tips of the Primocanes. I'm not that familiar with this cultivar at all, and or it's growth habits, i got lots of suckers that have emerged as new plants so i'm thinking eventually the fruiting laterals and buds will show up on those. If anyone has this variety familiar with the Summer and Fall Crop and about when the summer crop starts and when the Fall Crop starts i'm in New York ....Zone 7. Here's a pic of my first Freedom Blackberry As you can see the cane growing here is almost parallel with the ground with just one Berry at the tip, i'm wondering will i get more berries on the rest of this cane this Fall or have to prune it just below the fruited portion of the cane here, or is it a lateral coming out of the crown not sure. This pic shows the whole plant with the Primocane about 30 inches tall, the one on bottom and right could be a lateral off Floricane at base or a Primocane that grew weird like that As you can see the cane growing here is almost parallel with the ground with just one Berry at the tip, i'm wondering will i get more berries on the rest of this cane this Fall or have to prune it just below the fruited portion of the cane here, or is it a lateral coming out of the crown not sure. Any and all help is welcome