Best flavour blackberry

Mojisola

Has anyone got a blackberry variety that they would recommend?

Mojisola

Oh dear, doesn't anyone like the blackberries they've planted in the garden?

A._Badger

Mojisola wrote: »

Oh dear, doesn't anyone like the blackberries they've planted in the garden?

This probably isn't what you want to hear but, personally, I wouldn't bother. Blackberries tend to be thugs and none of them, in my experience, tastes as good as a wild berry.

I'm lucky, as wild brambles grow all around my garden (In fact I extracted some berries from the freezer just today, for a crumble) and I think they taste far beter than any blackberry I could ever hope to buy.

Why not grow a hybrid instead? Tayberries can be fantastically productive and they taste superb.

Davesnave

I have a field with lots of wild blackberries in the hedgerow, but they didn't come to much in last autumn's drier weather, possibly due to the soil type here.

I also inherited a thornless blackberry in the garden, which I suspect is Oregon Thornless because of its leaf shape. This was, as A Badger says, rather tasteless.

In my last garden, I had a Merton Thornless, which I took a piece from, and this is currently bulking-up nicely in a pot, waiting to go in somewhere. That was still not as flavoursome as wild blackberries, but it was convenient and took up little space, grown along a larch-lap fence. I will certainly grow it here, because the fruits are large and we use them stewed or in pies, when they are perfectly OK.:)

Perhaps someone has experience of more modern varieties than these?

Lotus-eater

Never tried a cultivated blackberry that tastes as good as a wild one, but don't forget that there are thousands (or millions) of different tasting wild ones.
So if you don't like your wild blackberries and literally one side or end of a field can taste different from the other........ then I'd still recommend a thornless loganberry

Mojisola

Thanks for the replies - a bit disappointing. I've got a lovely big space on the fence for the plant so I'm not worried about it taking over.

I'd love to pick wild blackberries but I'm not well enough to get out round the fields so I thought I'd have a "tame" one in the garden. It will mostly be used for wine making - my blackberry wine is very popular! - but I'm sure some of the fruit will get eaten straight off the plant as it's going to be very accessible.

My parents had the Oregan Thornless and it was an attractive plant but the fruits were always very bitter.

I might try Merton Thornless or else just stick a pin in a catalogue page and take a chance!

A._Badger

Mojisola wrote: »

Thanks for the replies - a bit disappointing. I've got a lovely big space on the fence for the plant so I'm not worried about it taking over.

I'd love to pick wild blackberries but I'm not well enough to get out round the fields so I thought I'd have a "tame" one in the garden. It will mostly be used for wine making - my blackberry wine is very popular! - but I'm sure some of the fruit will get eaten straight off the plant as it's going to be very accessible.

My parents had the Oregan Thornless and it was an attractive plant but the fruits were always very bitter.

I might try Merton Thornless or else just stick a pin in a catalogue page and take a chance!

As picking wild ones is out in your case (sorry to hear that), then a cultivated one is probably the way to go. As you'll only plant one, it would pay to buy a good quality plant from a specialist and I'd recommend www.kenmuir.co.uk They aren't the cheapest but I've found them reliable in the past.

Hope that's some help.

Lotus-eater

I've always understood that the thorned ones are better tasting than the thornless and the bigger they grow the better again.
Basically the more they try to breed the wildness out of the plant, the more you lose the taste.
So go for one as big and annoying as you can manage.

Or offer a bottle of wine to anyone who will collect some berries for you.... and then plant a loganberry