Blackberry plants tend to produce more fruit than raspberry plants. I think brandywine (purple) raspberry tends to be pretty tart, from what I have read. Royalty or Glencoe are less tart (fresh eating) purple raspberries. Most black and red raspberries are sweeter in taste but usually do not produce as many berries as blackberries. You may want to do a little research on your climate to determine which plant variety would grow best there. Wal-mart and other large general retailers often sell plants that are only marginally hardy (adaptable) to your climate.

Blueberries sucker from the roots - so you generally just chop off a sucker + some roots with a shovel.... Technically, they do grow wild, and are native to in our area... I have seen plenty of wild Vaccinium species, but never an actual "Wild Blueberry" with edible fruit.... They will do fine in a pot. Where we are at - pick 2 "rabbit eye" type blueberries for pollination... Note that a "Rabbit eye" type blueberry is not a hybrid, but rather a species... where the named varieties were just selected for some particularly good fruiting and growing habit... Blackberries are much the same in that they sucker from the roots PROLIFICALLY! Chop out a clump with a good sharp shovel and off you go!... Of course, the wild ones around here will also grow from seed just fine.... They really respond well to "Organic" cultivation... Honestly.. I have about a dozen proper cultivated blackberries, but I have had far and away the BEST luck out of wild Blackberries that pop up under trees and my grape arbors from Bird droppings... I just fertilize them well.... They seem to be much more prolific and pest proof than the proper "Cultivated" varieties... They also taste great... But.. Blackberries do get invasive fast... I need to go hack some out of my grapes before they get too large... Thanks

Hi Everyone! Thanks again for everyones input, my comments below Oregonwoodsmoke Thanks for the suggestion in terms of using a cross line between wires, Excellent suggestion! It is simple enough but at the same time, I would have never thought of that. In terms of mowing down the fall berries, that is my plan as well. I plan to remove the clothes line from my turnbuckles and mow away. As for the clothes line, Im actually using a more heavy duty version of the green vinyl coated line. This line is stiff but not quite as stiff as many of the wire coils you mention. Glen Thanks for the suggestion on the deer spray. I hate to put money into the garden in lieu of a more permanent solution but this might be the best option. How long does the Deer Out last? We usually get hard thunderstorms throughout the summer so do you have to continually reapply? As a side note, I was talking with my "mystical friend" and she said that I have to release my fear of the deer! She claims that my continual worry is what is attracting them to my beds. She might be right (laughing)!! Ive been paranoid of the deer every since I put in my main garden (1000 sq ft) five years ago. I think your advice on waiting to see how the plants grow is good. Ill watch their growth patterns this year and make adjustments as I go along. athenainwi Thanks for your advice. I didnt think about keeping the varieties separate, that is a great "note to self." In terms of keeping different varieties separate in each bed, does everyone have any recommendations given that fact that I already have multiple varieties in each bed? For example, if either Heritage or Anne crowds out the other, should I just prune the shoots of either variety to keep them in check??? Ive also noticed that Heritage is starting to move in on my Jewel plant in Bed 2. backyardener Yes, that is the exact same line that I purchased from Lowes. It seems to be pretty sturdy for the most part. socalliegal You might try doing a Google search on each species to get their growth habits. Im new to this too and Ive had to do a TON of homework to get this all figured out. I am surprised that more vendors dont offer information on growth habits or trellising when they sell their plants. You might also post this as a separate topic on GardenWeb. You will probably get more replies that way. For what its worth, here are my suggestions Canby This looks like a fall bearing raspberry so you will probably want to mow the plants down after they fruit. You could go with a simple "T" trellis design with your crossbar at 3 feet. This should keep them contained. But you dont necessarily need to use a trellis for these berries due to their growth habit. If you grow these in a hedgerow, Ive heard that for good light penetration and growth you should keep the hedgerow at a width of (12-15"). So the only pruning that will be done on these is on the suckers (new plant shoots) that grow outside this width. Someone please correct me if Im wrong. Black Satin I believe these are considered "semi erect." So they will grow upright for a while and then the canes will flop over. When the flop onto the ground, the canes will tip root (mine did) and multiply. So you will need a trellis to keep them off the ground and additional support as the plant gets larger. You can prune the tips of the canes at (3-4 ft) (depending on the height of your trellis lines) and then attach the canes to your line. The plant will start to produce lateral branches once cut which you can train to your lines as well. I will see if I can find the page I used for my trellis designs and then send it to you. In the meantime, you can check out the following page for info: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/html/ec/ec1303/ They have a good page on raspberries as well. Thanks again everyone!!! Terry

Jwahlton, I bought some Mysore plants this spring and like yours they are growing great. Mine flowered just a couple months after planting them and have been eating the fruit for a month or so and they are still flowering profusely. If you got the "mysore" from Lowes don't expect the fruit to in anyway resemble the picture on the tag though. Lowes tag and online plant guide show the "mysore" fruit as bright red and elongated where in reality "mysore" fruit is black and button shaped.