Brian: There is no reason why the Apache blackberry should not do well in coastal South Carolina. I don't think I would be concerned about inadequate winter chilling hours, since this blackberry is grown as far south as Florida. Hot, humid summers is just what blackberries like, so long as the soil they are planted in is not allowed to dry out completely. I know that you have had an unusual dry period in SC this season, and in these conditions you would want to water the plants deeply about once a week, especially if your soil is light and sandy. But you can help this situation by mulching the plants with whatever organic mulch you can find, to help hold moisture in the soil and feed the plants. I use stable manure that consists of about 70% wood chips and 30% horse apples, but chips or sawdust from lumber mills, compost, or even grass clippings would be fine. I grow the trailing thornless Triple Crown and Doyle here, and we are picking their big berries right now, with the season extending to about the last week of August. Apache sounds as good or better than what I am growing, although it is hard to beat Doyle for total production. We just made our first batch of blackberry jelly tonight with a mix of these two varieties, and it is pretty good stuff. You can't buy anything of this flavor and quality. If you like blackberries, put your Apaches in this fall. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Bam I find mind at Pense nursery in north western Arkansas they now have 100 dollar min. order. I'm planing and order for shipment in December after there first hard freeze 28 are below that be dormant plants week later. I'll place order in September for first dug shipment. They grow for all big nursery's by million's you need plants grown at high elevation because no viruses that high. All dates and shipping times out my hands. Tupy should be very plentiful this season coming third or fourth year into tupy. This post was edited by gator_rider2 on Thu, Jun 20, 13 at 19:03

Just so you know: trailing and even semi trailing blackberries will send out enormous canes--often up to 20 feet. Those canes are seeking a spot to tip root and propagate themselves. You don't want this. A blackberry with 20 ft canes is a neglected blackberry. When that dominant cane reaches a suitable height (I like 6-7 ft), it needs headed back. That encourages laterals to start their search for dirt. These also need headed back. I really don't let these get more than 4 or 5 feet. You'll get most of your fruit production on the pruned laterals. These plants are vigorous and require vigilant pruning throughout the growing season. You also need a really sturdy support system to handle all those canes. T posts may be fine for erect berries, but not for TC's. Erects also require a fraction of the pruning--at least in my experience.

These were 4' tall, pretty healthy trees last Spring, so I imagine they are still pretty young. We'll try again (since the trial one was a bit sour) in a couple weeks. I love spacing the varieties for lots of fruit. Our navel was amazing this year, and we wish it was bigger with more fruit. Valencias take their time to ripen (our plain old Valencia is still not ripe), and I'm hoping the two Midnight Valencias will bear in a different month than the Moros. Thanks for the info! We'll probably be able to pick much earlier in a few years, but for now, March it is.