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Blackberries, Dewberries
and Days of Future
Cobbler
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by
Carol Seminara, HCMG |
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Late one August, husband
Joe and I drove up U.S.
1 along the Pacific
coast heading for
Victoria, Canada.
Passing through Oregon
we encountered
magnificent rocky sea
vistas, literate traffic
signs (“Entering Roadway
Merge“), and abundant
stands of blackberries
growing wild alongside
the roads. |
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Blackberries grow in
such dense profusion
that the Oregon highway
department regularly
mows down the canes lest
they encroach upon the
road, impeding traffic.
Indeed, most of the
blackberries
commercially grown in
the U.S. come from the
Pacific Northwest,
specifically Oregon,
California and
Washington. |
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The sight of so much
plump, juicy fruit was
thrilling. I immediately
decided we needed to
exchange our lodging for
something with a
kitchenette so I could
make jam. Prudence and a
lack of canning
equipment prevailed so I
surrendered my share of
blackberries to the elk
who shared my
enthusiasm. |
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Along with peaches and
pecans, I consider
blackberries one of the
defining tastes of the
Hill Country.
Blackberries are easy to
grow, well suited to
most regions of Texas,
relatively disease- and
bug-free, cold-hardy to
5°F and produce up to 8
to 10 pounds of
delicious berries per
plant. |
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And I’ve never tried to
raise them. |
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Since there’s no time
like the present, I
visited the local
nursery one recent,
optimistically warm day
and bought three
blackberry and two
dewberry gallon-size
plants. Visions of my
soon-to-be bumper crop
danced in my head as we
… okay, as Joe spent the
next two days turning
our naturally occurring
adobe brick into
organic-rich, workable
soil. |
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Joe’s work was not for
naught. Blackberries
prefer to grow in soil
that’s at least
12-inches deep and that
has been amended with
lots of organic
material, although they
will grow in a wide
range of soil types as
long as there’s good
drainage. Container
plants can be
transplanted all year
long, but early spring
is the ideal time. |
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Blackberries, sometimes
colloquially called
“brambles,” are part of
one of the most diverse
groups of flowering
plants — the genus Rubus,
which has 12 subgenera,
some with hundreds of
species. Blackberries
are members of the
Rosaceae family and are
closely related (in a
taxonomical way) to
strawberries.
Blackberries (Rubus
spp.) are characterized
by their growing habit:
trailing, erect and
semi-erect. They are
also classified as
either thorny or
thornless. |
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Blackberries are native
to Asia, Europe, North
America and South
America, and have been
cultivated in Europe for
more than 2,000 years
for food, medicinal
purposes and as
protective hedges.
Blackberries propagate
by sprouts or suckers
from the roots.
Dewberries are a
trailing or prostrate
type of blackberry with
slender canes that will
root if they come in
contact with the soil (a
characteristic called
strike root – one of
mine had!). |
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Plant blackberries about
three feet apart in full
sun (at least 10 hours a
day). Trailing varieties
require support and
should be trained on
wires, fences or
trellises. |
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All brambles produce
aggregate fruits, which
means the berries are
formed by a collection
or aggregation of
several smaller fruits
called drupelets.
Generally, thorny
upright blackberries
have a strong, sometimes
tart flavor while the
prostrate varieties are
milder tasting. Over the
past several decades,
plant breeders have
worked to develop
thornless varieties with
full-flavored fruit. |
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Blackberries are
biennial, which means
that although their
roots are perennial, the
shoots or canes produce
only leaves their first
year of growth and do
not bear fruit until the
second year. The
first-year canes are
called “primocanes” and
should be allowed to
grow to 36- to
48-inches, then topped
to encourage branching.
The second year, these
now one-year-old canes
will flower (thus
becoming “floricanes”)
and develop fruit. The
floricanes will die
after they have produced
fruit and should be
pruned out. |
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New primocanes will
emerge from the ground
in spring and should be
allowed to grow until in
their second year when,
as floricanes, they
produce berries. To
prevent inadvertently
pruning out the wrong
canes, one Master
Gardener recommended
applying a patch of
bright paint to the
bottom of new primocanes
at the end of growing
season as a way to
identify next year’s
floricanes. |
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While most blackberry
cultivars do not require
outside help with
pollination, their white
or pinkish flowers are
attractive to honey
bees. Blackberry fruit
develops in about 40-70
days, and the plants
produce fruit for six to
seven weeks.
Blackberries usually
begin ripening in late
May and peak in June. |
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Blackberries require
regular, consistent
watering to thrive and
produce fruit. Water new
transplants daily for
the first few weeks
after planting, reducing
this amount to two or
three deep waterings
weekly through fall.
When plants are dormant
in winter, they should
be watered every other
week. |
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Mulching with compost or
straw is recommended to
conserve moisture,
moderate soil
temperatures and help
control emerging weeds. |
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Recommended upright
thorny blackberry
cultivars include:
Brazos, Rosborough,
Womack, Choctaw, Brison
and Kiowa. Good upright
thornless cultivars
include Apache, Arapaho
and Navaho. |
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Blackberries are high in
vitamin C and make darn
tasty jams, jellies,
pies and cobblers. I
guess I’ll have to wait
until next year to
harvest my own berries.
In the meantime, here’s
a Web site that lists
local places where you
can
Pick Your Own. |
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Carol Seminara is a
certified Hill Country
Master Gardener. Her
column appears every
other week in the
Kerrville Daily Times.
If you have questions
about gardening, contact
Hill Country Master
Gardeners in the Kerr
AgriLife Extension
Office at 257-6568. Or,
email
kerr@ag.tamu.edu |
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© 2009 Carol Seminara
Photographs by Joe Houde
Studio, Fredericksburg,
Texas except where
otherwise noted |
