Blackberry Roots

• Rich in antioxidants, low in calories, packed with fiber
• Thornless varieties are resilient and easy to manage
• Provides heavy yields of sweet, plump berries
• Spring blooms provide an important nectar source for native bees

Blackberry plants are hardy, fast-growing perennials that make excellent additions to backyard gardens. With proper maintenance, their root system will live for many years, providing you and your family with plenty of fresh berries. Every blackberry variety in our collection is thornless. That means no prickly surprises, no scratched arms, and no hesitation when reaching for that perfectly ripe berry. No matter the age, the whole family can join in the fun of harvesting fresh fruit. Easy to grow, wonderfully productive, and bursting with flavor, thornless blackberries make growing your own food a truly rewarding experience.

Blackberries offer so much more than delicious fruit. These vigorous perennial plants return year after year, producing attractive green foliage, delicate blossoms, and generous crops of glossy, deep-purple to jet-black berries. Some of our varieties feature upright or semi-erect canes that are easy to manage, making them an excellent choice for dedicated backyard berry patches.

Growing thornless blackberries makes harvesting a shared adventure. Give everyone a basket, head outside, and see who can find the biggest berry!

Deeply colored, wonderfully juicy, and packed with that unmistakable sweet-tart flavor, homegrown berries rarely make it all the way to the kitchen. But when they do, the possibilities are endless. Fold them into muffins, blend them into smoothies, spoon them over ice cream, or turn them into a delicious homemade pie. Be sure to plant varieties with different ripening times to extend the harvest season and enjoy fresh-picked blackberries for weeks.

Give blackberry plants a sunny spot, well-drained soil, and consistent moisture, and you're well on your way to a fruitful harvest. Most varieties perform best with at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight daily. Mulching helps conserve moisture and suppress weeds, while good air circulation promotes healthy growth. Apply a balanced fertilizer each spring as soon as you see active buds swell on your floricanes. 

Blackberry roots and crowns are perennial, returning year after year, while individual canes live for just two growing seasons. Our summer-bearing varieties produce fruit on second-year canes, called floricanes. They flower, fruit, and then die. After harvesting, simply remove these floricanes that produced fruit, at ground level, making room for all the new first-year growth, called primocanes, to grow. During their first year, the primocanes leaf out, build structure, and store energy. Do not cut them down. These canes will produce fruit in their second year when they become the new floricanes. Harvest from them, then remove them, starting the whole process over again. With a little seasonal care, your blackberry patch can provide delicious rewards for years to come.