I've never tried to grow blackberries here, but I got one of the new, thornless ones at A&P Nursery about a week ago. It's a Christmas present for my little GGS who LOVES to garden. Now I need to find the perfect spot for it in my yard. (It will die if it goes home with him!) If you grow them, I'd love some advice on siting it.

Btw, I don't know who's shopping at A&P (Baseline just east of the 101), but I ran into such a nice, honest young man that I am now obliged to make that long trip just to shop there. We - my GD and I - were going to spend a fair amount on shrubs for her yard. He was very helpful providing info about each, but he actually advised her to wait to plant rather than risk frostbite. She was in one of those got-to-do-it-today modes and the same advice from *me* didn't have the same weight as from him. She did buy some asparagus fern, so he did make a sale.

Hi Alma,
I have no experience with growing berries in AZ. I did grow Loganberries and Raspberries when I lived in Los Altos, CA. Huge successes. Of course, they grow wild by the roadsides there (you'd never want to eat the fruit of bushes at roadside because of all of the pollutants). Here's a link discussing various sorts of berries to consider. I'm sure the "pickin's" are few for Phoenix but trying some variety would be worth preparing a space with rich organic compost and water and shade cover. Sounds like the thorny types are the dickens to deal with (assuming your plant survives the first summer). I did read somewhere that the optimum time to plant is Fall.

http://www.pickyourown.org/unu...

We used to pick blackberries at our cabin near Payson....wild ones I suppose. Oh they were so good!

Harold grows Blackberries very successfully. Did he follow here from Cubits? He is still on DG but I'm not sure about ATP...

Happy New Year!

Thanks for posting Harold's success, Kelly.
Maybe Alma can catch up with him.

Happy New Year to you and yours, too.

Well, the little blackberry still sits in its lonely pot, waiting to be planted. Most of my yard is irrigated and gets a flood every two weeks. If I plant it in that part of the yard, I may not remember to water in between soaks and it will probably die. Otoh, it most likely won't tolerate the hellish summer sun so it might do better under some shade. Oh, Harold......!!

I wish it were so easy to grow blackberries - or berries of any kind for that matter - as it was back home. We never planted a single one; they just grew wild all over the place and produced like crazy. Every summer was a feast of berry pies and cobblers, and a chore of making jam and jelly.

Do they grow in Cottonwood? Is the MOTH still up there... maybe he could tend to it.

Let us know what you do... always nice to know of a success. ... or not.

If you're itching to make some jams and jellies you might do well to harvest some Prickly Pear fruit! It's really pretty tasty though there's nothing like popping a vine ripened berry from your own backyard!

I've got some blackberry plants southcentral Texas. I like Kiowa best. First planted Brazos and it produced well...but is invasive. Kiowa doesn't pop up elsewhere much...and the berries are big and delicious. After berry season, cut back the canes that produced to the ground and that encourages new canes.

locakelly said:Harold grows Blackberries very successfully. Did he follow here from Cubits? He is still on DG but I'm not sure about ATP...

Happy New Year!

Sorry folks. I've had two major surgeries since Oct. Dropped out of Dave's. Major lack of gardening.
However, that one gallon blackberry I bought at a rare fruit sale several years ago is thriving without any help. Sprouts popping up everywhere, even under the fence into the neighbor's yard. Be careful what you wish for. However, there will be a bumper crop this year. Here's a poor picture of a small section. Note all those white blobs are blossoms.

Hi HaroldS! Sorry to hear about the surgeries but happy for you (and us) that you're up and about and getting healthy!

Congrats on that monster! When you feel up to it, maybe you can share care and feeding...or at least the exposure. Shade, morning sunlight, West/East/North... not South?

You are so fortunate this plant took off for you! I wonder if a little neglect is good for abundance? Like Bougainvillea?

Take good care of yourself!

OK - Planted against an East facing block wall. First mistake - no access to the back. They should be planted with enough space to be able to access from both sides. And also hopefully to prevent roots migrating to adjoining property. So anyway they get full morning and high noon sun. Since they are over six feet tall the tops gets full sun all day. I have never fed them anything. They are on timed water that we vary according to needs of other plants on that grid. So you can see we don't cater to the blackberries. Usually trim out in the Fall the branches that had fruit that year - you can tell, they are "older" looking and not so green. But neglected badly last year. So a really wild mess.

Oh, that's a terrific blackberry! Do you by any chance remember which one you have? I saw Marionberries at Lowe's today and considered one - till I noticed it was priced over $40! I'll stick with the little ones.

No sorry. It was just a gallon pot and said "blackberry."

Maarionberry! Those grow in Orego I know. Had the best marionberry pie up there once. I buy Dickinson's marionberry jam. That's what you get at Cracker Barrel with your biscuits.