No clue, they came with the house :) and are tasty.

I live in Zone 5b north central Ohio, too. I have both black raspberries and blackberries. My black raspberries are great tasting, and grow in only partial sun. They aren't big producers but we enjoy what we get. Two years ago I planted 5 Ouachita blackberries in full sun. They are listed as zone 5 in some catalogs, and zone 6 in others. Last year I got my first harvest. Not huge but I was very pleased for my first year of production. My 6-year-old son prefers the flavor of the black raspberries to the Oachitas. I think we probably picked the Ouachitas too early, should have waited til they lost a little of their glossiness. I liked them, though. We'll see if the Ouachitas survive the two inches of ice they received in our most recent storm! My friend who lives around the corner from me has had good success with Navaho blackberries. Again, she may be pushing the zone a little bit, but hasn't had any trouble with winter kill. They are very productive and sweet. I grew a Black Satin blackberry in a former home in the same town on the south side of an attached, unheated garage and never had any trouble with winter kill. This summer I'm expanding my blackberry horizons by adding a Loch Ness, a thorny boysenberry, and two Black Pearl blackberries. I plan on laying the boysenberry and Black Pearl primocanes on the ground in the fall and mulching them well, as I know it gets too cold around here, for the Black Pearl especially! Good luck with whatever you choose - you are sure to enjoy either or both. MK

I use 9 or 12 gauge wire with wirevices. Although that green stuff is starting to look more appealing to me. Just don't try to use it in a wirevice. I got my wire at a local Wilco farm supply store. I don't think you need to use cement to anchor your posts, but it sure would be strong. You might use the cement if you're not planning on burying your posts very deep. I use 10-foot posts buried two feet into the ground. Seems adequate. The wires are run thru quarter-inch holes drilled thru the posts and anchored at each end with wirevices. I used wirevices only because they seemed cheap, easy and convenient, which they are. But I'm sure Glen or Larry have equally functional ways of anchoring their wires at each end of the trellis that allow occasional tightening. Maybe they could fill us in. I'm keen to know what other folks are doing.

I got a "free" Jewel black raspberry from Raintree because I ordered before January 1st and spend enough money. It came in a tiny pot (I presume from tissue culture?). Very wimpy but had a note that it would grow like a weed. It sure did! This year being year 2, I finished picking the crop a week ago. Next year should even be better as the primocanes are much bigger stemmed and Lots of them. I did not realize how huge one raspberry plant could get. I am impressed. Even though I cut off all the tips of the primocanes late last summer when they got to ground level, a few got missed and rooted in giving me 4 free plants this year. A friend was very happy to receive them. My only bad news is birds! The fruit started to turn black but not sweet enough to pick. Suddenly 1/2 of the crop was gone. I assumed my children had picked them but they had not. I then netted the plant with black netting which was successful but some fruits had bird pecks in them. I had anticipated the neighborhood children might be the biggest problem to getting fruit not the birds. Next year I will be more diligent to net them as soon as they start turning ripe.