Hello all , had first Newburgh Summer Raspberry today, 6-19-2016'....2 days later than last year....some varieties are way ahead some behind.....more to come.

Happy to report that my Crimson Giants yielded the first berry for me today at one of my patches 6-20-16'

Kwik update here, just had my Taylor Summer Raspberry this morning 6-22-16'.....Preludes ripen by the dozens now.......everything looks to be on par or earlier than last year.

Tayberries are ripe here, wow they are good! Seems most berries here are sweeter. I think it is from the dry conditions? Not sure, not complaining! Man tayberries are early for being part blackberry! Only prelude, and himbo top are fruiting. Some everbearing types here have weak floricanes, and I'm thinking next year I'm going to just remove them after fall fruiting. Others like Anne seem to do well with floricanes. Well I'm figuring out what works for me. Some everbearing I'm only going to go for the fall crop, others I will let have a summer crop. It also might be location. They are out in the open and no house or walls to protect from winter's drying winds. I think this is really the problem. All my cultivars against a wall are producing good summer crops.

I got my first taste of Niwot 2 days ago . Was not fully ripe but I had to try it . Waiting for more to ripen .

All raspberries except Black Mac black raspberry are producing but at a very light crop. Something happened this year and the raspberry floricanes are just dying. Might be a combination of weather and fungus or something else all together. The primocanes are still growing, so maybe next year will be better.

Most of the trailing blackberries are ripe, with Newberry being the most productive trailing blackberry this year following by Boysenberry. Columbia Star is a dud again this year, so I don't think I will keep them around. Kotata may go as well. I tasted my first wyeberry and it was fairly similar to loganberry.

My Tayberry plant is growing but isn't producing any berries this year for some reason. For the second year Pense nursery has sent me replacement tayberry plants that are thornless, which means that they are probably thornless boysenberry plants and there is a mixup in their stock.

Ouachita is the first eastern blackberry to ripen for me.

JT,

Yeah same here JT! This is the first year my tayberries had decent floricanes. 3rd or 4th leaf. I'm taking a tip rooting and moving it to the garage during dormancy as a backup. The berries are really good, and early too. No other blackberries are ripe here.

Got A handful of Niwot today . Worst tasting raspberry ever . now to wait for a taste of the fall crop . Not impressed so far .

Hello peeps, i'm gonna echo what jt and drew and others have said.....seems floricanes and berries acting a little weird this year.....both my Fall & Kiwi Gold berries are very small, same with Prelude even tho i'm getting a bunch daily now......seems most berries are smaller and some die back on Floricanes.

This week i started getting Latham, Josephine, Newburgh,Taylor... and i'm guessing Crimson Night ( thanx Drew) but i'm waiting to see if the berries get more purplish but they are very small too as the floricanes were very small.

Probably getting between 1 -2 pounds today....more and more daily.

some pics

Double Gold

Crimson Night

Latham

This mornings take, left All Prelude

Crimson Night does get darker, but is good light red too. Yes, smaller berries, and not just raspberries, cherries, and probably blackberries too.

Picked my first berries today. The first was Boyne, which was expected, but the other variety ripening is Jaclyn, which I didn't expect. The berries are the same size and taste as their Primocane counterparts, which is a good thing. So far the rodents have left them alone even though they are only a couple feet off the ground. Otherwise, everything looks to be on track for an average or better harvest

Well this morning had my First Freedom Blackberry 6-25-16' of this season and the texture and taste were fantastic.....pics below.

Also started getting Josephine's and Crimson Nights now........Prelude getting over a half a pound daily just by itself

Now i got a couple of hungry squirrels trashing my berries to forage so out comes the Havahart trap again.

Double Golds are much bigger this year than last and seem to taste better as i have it at 2 patches.

Only Heritage and Coho left and all my varieties have produced this year.....sadly Nantahala although a great tasting Raspberry has some floricane dieback and it isn't a heavy producer like Caroline or Prelude

Latham not a big producer either for a summer and berries are mild and soft will have too see if it's worth keeping

Some pics

Freedom Blackberry

Josephine Raspberries

Josephine

Very dry with little rain in the forecast. Drip irrigation helps but it is not enough to promote healthy growth. Starting to see a lot of Japanese beetles and they are eating the berries, so it continues to be a tough year.

Well everything is fruited for me except my Coho Raspberry and Apache Blackberries......however this year the squirrels and birds are getting a big taste of my berries, Squirrels causing a lot of damage bouncing on my raspberry bushes breaking laterals daily.......been catching em in Havahart traps and relocating down the road.

On a high note, my venture into the swamp today checking on my Wild Raspberry patches i found proved to be even more exciting than i thought as it turns out they are Wild Black Raspberry or at least the ones that i found ripe today.

When they all start to ripen there will be thousands !

Nice pic here

Greenhorn2 - I think that is a blackberry not a black raspberry. Might be a dewberry, like a trailing blackberry.

Well Jt, they are rather small but the bushes these are growing on some 10-12 feet tall with rough thorns.........the ones i found ripe were very low to ground.......that said it is possible they are interwoven, but the chances of Wild Raspberries and Wild Blackberries being in the same location mixed in are slim i think..........probably in a week or two there will be thousands ripening.

Here is a wall of Wild Raspberries or Blackberries

Picture #2 looks like a black raspberry and the bottom picture looks like a blackberry or blackberry hybrid. They may be mixed together. The primocanes on black raspberries are white to light green.

Look at the interior of the plucked berry: is it hollow, or does it contain the cone?

i ate them,....will have to wait on my next trip out there to acertain whether it is hollow like a Raspberry etc

Well i took another venture into the woods today to check on the Wild Berries and it appears there are both Wild Black Raspberry and Wild Blackberries all mixed in together as i looked at the receptacles on the Wild Black Raspberry and none on the Wild Blackberries.....still not ripe yet just a few here and there.

Hello....just made an interesting observation today, found fruit buds started growing already on the Primocanes on Freedom Blackberries, that's great then since i'm guessing at end of August beginning of September i'll get a Fall Crop.......just fantastic !!!.......

Very quiet this year here

pics below

One observation i made with PAF Blackberries is that the darker they get the better they taste, i'm guessing this is true with all Blackberries........and they taste good too !

A great year for me with my Jewel black raspberries. Picked twice so far and many more to harvest yet. The robins started in on the crop so had to drag out the netting. Thought I outsmarted them only to find a robin somehow got in the net the following day. Tough getting him out. No more birds since then.

Time to get out my jelly jars as my wife's favorite is black raspberry jam. I cook them first, run them thru a coarse sieve to remove the seeds (wow, they sure have a lot of them), then add the sugar and pectin. We find the jam is great for gift giving when we need something homemade for that extra touch.

New to growing Raspberry and blackberry

i planted a couple of each last fall

i think this is a Raspberry ? its been producing a couple of fruit per day for at least a month now. these are really tasty !

Looks like a blackberry to me. Easy to tell. Blackberries keep the core, raspberries are hollow and give it up.

Birds have taken half or more of my blackberry crop and are now eating each elderberry as it starts to turn. 8 of the birds are now being eaten by the roots of the blackberry plants. I've put 2 gallons of berries in the freezer and a neighbor has made a cobbler. I think these are some Apache berries. I have Apache, Navaho, Ouachita, Osage, and Triple Crown.

I picked a gallon of blackberries today. They were a mix of Osage, Oauchita, Triple Crown, Loch Ness, and Prime Ark 45. Production has not been awesome but it has been consistent, especially with some much needed rain. Japanese beetles have died off quite a bit and stink bugs are also in decline. SWD is due in the next couple of weeks here, so I'm trying to pick as many berries as possible before they arrive. I noticed that I may have to cut a couple of my raspberry sections to the ground this year to give them a good start next year. Only my black raspberries look strong and healthy.

My blackberries are at record high yields, but my black raspberries, and red raspberries are not at all. Funny you mention cutting to the ground. I was thinking of doing the same thing. Primocanes often get shaded so bad, they don't produce well. I was thinking to cut them down about every third year of so, after fall fruiting.

I have not been taking a lot of photos of them this year. The blackberries also are tasting mighty fine. Very sweet when fully ripe, yet rich in flavor too. Wyeberry seems to get better and better. the 3rd year now and they are really good! It's just a good year for whatever reason? I have not a clue!?

I'm hoping out of the 7 hybrid raspberry crosses that I get some color variation. I also would like some of the positive attributes of both Polka and Anne. Anne is the best yellow, or close. Cascade Gold I think tastes better, but it is not the best grower. My cascade gold floricanes all died this year. Not one berry! Anyway Polka is a lot like Caroline except it is a better grower and producer. Top rate flavor. So this cross should be most awesome. Two died on me, so down to 5 plants at the moment.

I have a few Cascade Gold growing but they are still rather small. This variety is very susceptible to root rot fungus, so that may be what got yours. My wyeberry is growing really well, so I may tip root it this Fall to get a few more plants.

Hey peeps.....i have read reports that Cascade Gold is very susceptible to root rot, but extremely tasty too......my Raspberries are getting hammered my birds and squirrels too this year as anyone that say's birds don't like Gold or Yellow Raspberries as much should know they ate most of my Gold's this year.......they also seem to favor Polka too as that is one Red they seem to like most.

My Freedom Blackberries are growing something fierce with flowers already blooming on the Primocanes which BTW are over 8 foot tall now.........Apache Blackberries ripen differently than any other Blackberry i've seen as they ripen from end to end like a stripe, half Black/Purple.....weird.

I'm waiting on Crimson Night to set buds on the Primocanes as i noticed last night Jaclyn started, Carolyn Primocanes 8 foot tall now too, no fruit buds yet.

For anyone who likes a candy flavored Raspberry try Coho, they are a late season which are ripening slowly now, but they taste like Cotton Candy.

Anne Primocanes about a week or 2 out from 2nd crop, fantastic.

Drew how you crossbeed plants is interesting, did you ever have any luck with the Jilin Giant ?

Greenhorn2... word of warning on the Freedom blackberries...when they grow that tall, they become highly susceptible to wind damage. I would make sure you have them firmly supported by a wire or two. You may have already done this, but when they are about 2ft tall, prune them by removing a few inches the leader cane. They will branch out broader and not grow as tall. They also produce more. Some people summer prune them twice per season.

Yes I would prune PAF down once myself. You will generate multiple braches all will fruit at the ends.

No luck with Jilin Giant, the 2nd try none of the seeds were good. All floated, I will one day ask ARS for more seeds. I now feel confident I can get them to germinate. Tyler helped me a lot. Wish he was around more!

Well took a walk out in the woods again today to find 3 Wild Berries mixed in together , after scouting today i found Wild American Red Raspberry & Blackberry....had some Wild Raspberries & they have a very different taste than domestic....Wild Blackberries taste fantastic.....not sure what normal taste likes.

Didn't find any Wild Black Raspberry today but did last week.

Some pics below

Def Wild Blackberry..........thousands to pick when ready

American Red Raspberry

Hi all...i'm getting fruit already on some like Anne Primocanes.....also fruit buds starting now on Crimson Giant yesterday, Jaclyn starting to pop now too.

The Anne Raspberry here is my first Berry off a 2nd Crop this year....def the biggest Anne Yellow i've seen here.....as i've grown it b4

pics below

The Triple Crown have been 3-5 grams . The wild one 2 grams .

Triple Crown now getting 8 grams . Rain helped I think .

Hi all....My Raspberries are down to almost none, in between Floricane and Primocane seasons but very light harvest this year.....Blackberries doing bit better still getting Apache's now....Freedoms working on Primocane crop now.

The intense heat and lack of rain has really stressed out some of my potted plants, started to die off losing Fall Crop berries.

Now the local Government has issued a Water Rationing here for 2 times a week, so i'm anticipating crop failure and loss now...little can be done except pay the fine if it's worth it...sad too put so much work into these berries to lose them if we don't get some rain.

Most Primocanes have berries growing already too.

I lost about 3/4 of my floricane raspberry crop to chipmunks and raccoons this year, which has never happened before in the 15 or so years I've been growing raspberries. Definitely going to set up traps next year. For some reason, Boyne, Killarney, and Caroline are all in steep decline with very scant primocane growth, so theses are all coming out soon and being replaced by Prelude in the spring. Going to give Jaclyn one more year since they taste so good, but yields were minuscule on the floricanes and I will probably replace them with Prelude or Taylor in the coming years. Royalty purples are exceptional as always but the rodent damage was severe.

Like I said earlier in the thread, nearly all
of my raspberries failed to ripen and just dried up. The primocanes on several
of the varieties show signs of significant anthracnose infection, so I may need
to cut those to the ground and use an antifungal next year to break the
infection fungal cycle. A newer planting
of Nova looks like it has reasonably strong primocane growth and both my black
raspberry varieties are also show strong primocane growth.

Blackberries will be finished by week’s end and
they produced an average crop although better than last year due to a very cold
winter the prior year. Ouachita was the best producer, surprisingly, followed
by Osage, Prime Ark45, and a tie between Triple Crown and Loch Ness. I’m in the
process of rebuilding my Eastern blackberry crop but I have had problems all
year with deer eating the new growth, a first for my berry patch.

My harvest of Jewel black raspberry is over. At least 8 quarts if not more. I never did keep a count. Finished picking the last of them, then proceeded to cut out the old floricanes afterwards, topped the primocanes and re-staked and tied up the primocanes. I got the last of my jam made so all finished for this year.

I am getting more requests for young black raspberry plants as I started populating the neighborhood each spring giving away some of the tips that rooted in. I now have more requests than I can fill as the word is out for free black raspberry plants at my place. Glad to hear that those who got some plants from me 2-3 years ago now reporting in about the excellent crop they had this year.

Well i'm down to a couple a day now as far as Raspberries go, Blackberries still going.........most plants in between Primocane and Floricane crops, some hanging on maybe.....but def signifigant reduction in Harvest this year for some reason.

On a brighter not my venture into the woods provided some nice Wild Blackberries to take home, about 2 Pounds and it's hard work because they are thorny hard to get at and some 8-9 feet tall....takes some time to pick too.

As far as size and taste they are smaller than store bought, but have little seed and are very sweet and tasty....will be going back for more as it looks like they will last a couple weeks b4 all are spent.

No idea what variety of Wild Blackberry this is but its tremendous growth wise

Here's a couple pics

Got my first taste of Niwot primocane fruit yesterday . Not that good on floricane or primocane crop . More breeding work needed for these . I will give it a try myself later if I can get another fall bearing type to bloom with it .

I have seeds to a Niwot cross with another black raspberry from the breeder Pete, but I have not grown out seeds yet. It is supposed to have decent primocane berries. I thought the floricane berries were good on Niwot.

I would love to get a hold of his first selection that needed a pollinator . It would make future crosses easier . Just plant it with the intended pollinator .

Been awhile since someone left a comment, but I thought I'd add mine. This was a great year for me and my brambles. A mild winter (only to -17F) and good snow cover plus agribon allowed about 50% of the canes on my Wild Treasure, Black Diamond and Marion to survive. Picked a total of 7 1/2 pounds of blackberries (mostly from very tasty Wild Treasure). I played with leaving row cover on until they began flowering and that helped hasten harvest by two weeks. Wild Treasure (pictured above) and Black Diamond started ripening around the first of August, Marion about 10 days later. I got nearly a full crop off of Wild Treasure by Labor Day weekend - a first for me, especially considering the very cool summers here (761 growing degree days, base 50F, this year). Wasps stayed away due to excessive amounts of rain - 3 times what usually falls in summer - and the other bugs mentioned on this page don't survive interior Alaska winters (yet), thank goodness. We usually have lots of vole and moose damage instead, though I have a resident porcupine that loves bramble foliage and raspberries in late summer and fall. My original raspberry patch with many varieties succumbed to the native grass and only Fall Gold can compete with it, so the raspberries I have to report on are Cascade Gold and Cascade Delight, which I planted in a different location. Both were quite productive this year, considering this was only their second year. Interesting to hear about the sensitivity of Cascade Gold to root rot. I guess my loess soils here drain well enough, because even with 16 or so inches of rain this summer, I saw no signs. Black Diamond struggled (new growth turned a golden color) in July when 8 inches fell, but appeared to recover within a few weeks. This is one finicky variety - not tolerant of drought or excess moisture, early season growth and berries (no matter what stage - green, red or black) are super sensitive to frost, and canes are not very vigorous where I live. On the upside, the canes typically have 80%+ survival with minimal protection as long as they are laying on the ground over winter.

The blackberries found their way into a cobbler, jam and hard cider, besides being eaten out of hand. Never thought I'd get enough blackberries to get tired of eating them. Satiation only lasted a month, though. Now I'm working on the Marionberry jam. Next year it is wine!