[NAFEX] Chester Thornless Blackberry

Michael Dossett phainopepla at yahoo.com
Mon Nov 29 19:48:50 EST 2010


I would be skeptical but you might be surprised.  I have not seen hardiness ratings from any reliable sources for Chester Thornless that go any lower than 4b.  There are some "no name" places on the internet selling it that claim zone 3, but I wonder where they get their information or if they are just being optimistic as conventional wisdom for Chester Thornless is zone 5.  Perhaps they are just talking about the crown of the plant rather than the canes (which don't bear until the second year).  The release info on it says "It is well adapted south of a line extending from western Maryland, through central Ohio, to Kansas City, Missouri in the eastern United States and to portions of the West Coast of the United States."  Having said that I know people have had good experiences with it growing it north of that line.

Having said that, you might be surprised as often things do go a bit lower, particularly with the right care (e.g. mulching/burying canes which could be hard given it's erect nature, hardening off, etc.) and in the right spot.  I would also be concerned about length of season as it is quite late and may not be able to ripen a good crop in short season areas even if the canes were hardy.

Michael

Michael Dossett
Corvallis, Oregon
www.Mdossettphoto.com
phainopepla at yahoo.com


--- On Mon, 11/29/10, Sarah Kehler Ewing <skkewing at yahoo.com> wrote:

> From: Sarah Kehler Ewing <skkewing at yahoo.com>
> Subject: [NAFEX] Chester Thornless Blackberry
> To: "NAFEX" <nafex at lists.ibiblio.org>
> Date: Monday, November 29, 2010, 4:08 PM
> I'm wondering if anyone out there
> grows or is familiar with the Chester Thornless Blackberry
> and has any first hand info to share.  
> 
> The Canadian company, T & T Seeds is offering it this
> year and they claim it is zone 2/3 hardy.  The old T
> & T Seeds was always a reliable and reputable company,
> but I'm not so sure if their new management gets that same
> endorsement from me anymore. Last year they sold me Silver
> Maples labeled as Sugar Maples and the year before they
> argued with me (during a phone call to their tree expert)
> that there was no difference between seedlings and grafts
> from the famous Edmonton Capilano apricot.  
> 
> www.ttseeds.com
> 
> Sarah 
> zone 3
> Edmonton, AB
> 
> 
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