Smooth And Sweet

If You Want To Grow Succulent, Juicy Blackberries, Thornless Is The Way To Go

- Jennifer Stackhouse

Blackberries are thorny, invasive weeds that alienate large tracts of productive land, invade bushland and provide a safe haven to pests such as rabbits. They also grow along roadsides and fence lines and find their way into gardens. It should be no surprise to find the blackberry classified as a weed of national significance.

Although these weedy blackberries have an abundance of tasty fruit throughout summer, they are not to be planted in the garden. The way to enjoy blackberries in gardens is to plant thornless blackberries. These plants have robust canes and pretty pink or white flowers that develop into large, juicy, black fruits with not a thorn in sight.

The lack of thorns (technically spines) makes the plants easy to train and get along with, and a breeze to harvest. The plants are vigorous and grow strongly but are not prone to suckering, which means they are not likely to become invasive. These berries are grown from cuttings.

Thornless blackberries are not weeds and are also considered to be different from the true blackberry (Rubus fruticosus). They are derived from breeding programs with many blackberry species and hybrids including the smooth blackberry (R. canadensis) from Canada and R. laciniatus. An early thornless variety known as ‘Merton Thornless’ is also important for the development of new varieties, including the pink-flowered ‘Chester Thornless’ seen here.

Thornless blackberries are not the only blackberry-style fruits for gardens. Boysenberries, loganberries, marionberries and tayberries are all delicious. Most are thought to be hybrids between blackberries and raspberries but some, such as boysenberry, are of unknown origin. Loganberries were developed in the US in the 1880s. All these berries are thorny.