Check my Dec 12, 2015 post by scrolling down here:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/1503388/my-backyard-planting-experience-so-far-zone-4a-b-quebec-cana

Summary, it will die back each year but rhizomes will survive. You will get primacanes, flowers and fruit BUT the fruit will not ripen in time before first frost. They just start turning red mid/late September. I tore out my plants (and am still battling shoots that keep popping up).

thanks for your response! I've followed your posts before and i got to say you have a impressive assortment of fruits! i have 15 varieties of berries, many you have, 4 hybrid hazelnuts, 4 apple trees, 2 manchurian apricots, and 4 mulberry trees on 3/4 of a acre. I'm located 3 hrs. east of you. i have the prime arks in a 4' by 10' raised bed. i think thats why i had such good growth this season as the soil warmed sooner. i have the same soil and drainage problems you have. I've mixed a lot of peat to improve drainage and plant in mounds and so far i haven't had issues with plant loss. my elderberries are 2 years old and are already 10' tall with huge cymes of flowers and berries. i knew that there was a chance of problems with prime arks so i plan to cover them with hoops of 1/2 pic pipe held in place with rebar pounded into the ground and covered with plastic to extend the season to allow fruit to ripen. after fruiting is done , ill remove the plastic and mulch with straw. come aprill ill remove the straw and cover again with plastic to allow them to grow earlier giving them a good headstart. i think i can get a decent crop this way. if that doesn't pan out, there is a variety of blackberry called nelson that is sold by fedco here in maine that is cold hardy to zone 3b that i may try. thank you for your response. now i know i have to protect these plants where before i was just going to leave them be. good luck with your new plants!

thanks for all the info.! its funny because i looked at a doz nurseries before i bought the prime arks and 5 of them said zone 4 the rest said 5 so i bought them anyway. sometimes i think some of these places put a lower planting zone just to up sales! most of the better nurseries do the opposite because they want you to come back. you would think that would be a no brainer! i agree i don't like the early mid and late labels. way to vague. happy gardening!

Yep, most like to push zones. I don't mind trying stuff but give me some real details regarding growing and flowering and fruiting seasons so I can make an educated judgement based upon my micro-climate. Most seed companies at least give the number of growing days required for maturity. Wish the nurseries would do something similar.

Here in interior Alaska, primocane fruiting varieties don't work at all. Just lots of small green berries if the plants get that far. My experience with Prime Ark 45 was that it grew about 2 ft (0.6m) tall and then died to the ground. That happened for two years and then it gave up completely. Same with Chester. I have Nelson, but haven't put it in the ground yet. I did get it to flower and it was too late - as are most other eastern blackberry varieties. I had some luck with Stenulson this year as it flowered in mid-June and "ripened" late August. I say "ripened", because something ate the leaves, probably caterpillars though I never saw one, on the floricanes and they pretty much gave up developing the berries. The berries turned color in late August, however. Not sure how hardy Stenulson is, as it was covered by snow last winter before the temp dropped below 0F (-18C). I have had more success with the trailing western varieties (USDA hardiness zone 6 or 7) largely because there is usually some snow cover by the time the temperature falls below 0F (I also use other protective measures) and the snowpack remains until April. This year, I was able to coax Wild Treasure into ripening nearly its entire crop by Labor Day weekend (4.5 pounds/2 kg). No small feat when you only accumulate 750 growing degree days (base 50F)/420 growing degree days (base 10C) in an average summer.

Had success growing Triple Crown here in Z4b in Montana and now I have some PAF coming next spring. I'm always pushing the zone thing to the limit anyhow so depending on Mother Nature we will see. We've already had -29F for one night. Not sure how much damage there was but only time will tell.

im in zone 3b. and planted the prime ark freedoms in may. had plenty of green berries by aug. but none ripened. the plants itself had green leaves till' beginning of nov. but the berries never ripened. gonna put them under high tunnels this spring to extend the growing season and see what happens. canes are under 3ft. of snow now.

Hi Steve, I only have 'Balsors Hardy Black' blackberry that have been in the ground for three years and hopefully to produce their first real crop in 2017. They've now grown into very stiff upright plants too large to be laid down and winter protected ... so, I'll have to wait and see! Last year, I planted two black raspberries, 'Munger' and an unnamed selection given me to by a friend ... boy, those things sure did trail!

Not to derail your thread, though you had mentioned of growing four hybrid hazelnuts, I'd love to hear about these and what success you might be having, possibly you could start a separate thread. I live surrounded by stands of native hazelnuts and enjoy eating them if I can beat the squirrels and blue jays to them.

my p.a. freedom canes got 9ft. tall from planting in may to sept. with a ton of flowers and berries. very vigorous! we got 2ft. of heavy wet snow that laid them down 2wks ago. hopefully i can get them to ripen if i put them in high tunnels next year. there is a variety that fedco here in maine carries that is supposed to be hardy to zone3. wish i saw that before i bought the freedoms. if i can get the fruit to ripen in the tunnel i don't mind the extra effort. i have 4 hybrid hazels s i got from arbor day that are a cross of the american and beaked hazels. the nuts are slightly smaller than the ones you buy at the store. i also have wild beaked on the property. the squirrels eat them and so far left my hybrids alone. check out bagersett research out of i think minnesota. they have dozens of commercial hybrids. there are some breeders in the mid west provinces that sell hybrids as well. don't remember the names.

It looks like a Manchuria Apricot

This year, I am trying something different... I overwintered some Babycakes blackberry in my unheated garage and brought them outside this week. They are well and alive right now, so we'll see. I might have a handful of berries this summer if flies/squirrels/etc. leave them alone. I am also trying to grow Prime Ark 45 agains't my south wall to get primocane fruits to ripen faster. But since it didn't work for others, I don't expect anything. Just trying anyway.

my PA freedoms never produced. i too put in 5 babycakes 2 yrs ago. although they produce only about 2 gallons total for 5 plants. the berries are as big as pa freedoms and are very good. also put in 5 nelson blackberry from fedco last spring. should get my 1st. crop this summer. they are z4 and maybe z3 hardy. do not fertilize baby cakes after planting, or you'll burn them. wait 2 years then lightly fertilize. i would have got berries the 1st season but i amended the soil and most of my new primocanes burnt. good luck! you will like these plants. they behave well unlike full sized thorny blackberries. mine are about 3 1/2ft.

Hi! Great! Can I share your comment on Facebook? On a groupe called "Arbres frutiers du Québec" ?

absolutely! just to let you know, my ancestors on both sides of my family are Quebecquios with a little Micmac . I'm the 4th generation here. both sides were farmers. fathers side was from Trois Pistoles, Qc. ;)

Interesting! Thanks :) Have a good growing season!