North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Michael Dossett <phainopepla@yahoo.com>]

Scott, have you tried laying the canes on the ground and mulching them? This 
should help tremendously, particularly in areas with reliable snow cover in 
the coldest months to help insulate.

Last year both 'Black Pearl' and 'Marion' came through 3 or 4 nights in a row 
of ~6 degrees (colder in some spots) without major cold injury issues here in 
the Willamette Valley of Oregon.  Having said that, it was in early December 
when the plants are in their deepest dormancy. Early and late cold snaps seem 
to be the biggest problems as the plants take a while in the fall to reach 
full dormancy and have relatively short chilling requirements (can't remember 
exactly but I think 'Marion' is around 350 hours?) so they tend to wake up in 
late winter, particularly if there is nice weather, and be susceptible to 
cold then as well.  Often times the buds on 'Marion' start to swell in 
mid-late January here making the plants particularly susceptible to late cold 
snaps like the teens that we had a week and a half ago.  

'Black Pearl' is quite a bit less susceptible to these issues than 'Marion' 
but this will probably be the biggest problem for trying most of the trailing 
types in the mid-atlantic and northeast.

Michael

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


--- On Mon, 3/7/11, Scott Smith <scott@cs.jhu.edu> wrote:

> From: Scott Smith <scott@cs.jhu.edu>
> Subject: Re: [NAFEX] source for 'Black Pearl' blackberry?
> To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Date: Monday, March 7, 2011, 1:10 PM
> Melissa, I had two Black Pearls and
> both died to the roots and my low was only about 4F that
> year which is zone 7.  So, zone 6 is a long ways off, I
> would put Black Pearl in 7B or 8A.
> 
> I am testing many of the new Oregon releases for hardiness;
> thus far the only hardy one for me is Metolius but it
> produced poor tasting fruit in my climate.  In your
> zone 5 I expect none of the western trailing varieties will
> be hardy and I would recommend growing Triple Crown
> instead.  Its not as good as Marion but it is still a
> delicious berry both fresh and cooked.
> 
> Scott z7a MD
> 
> On Mar 7, 2011, at 9:20 AM, Melissa Kacalanos wrote:
> 
> > After thinking for years that blackberries were
> pointlessly flavorless, I finally tried some 'Marion'
> blackberry jam, and now I see the point. Delicious!
> > 
> > 'Marion' is zone 7, and I'm not foolish enough to try
> growing it here in zone 5. However, the new cultivar 'Black
> Pearl' supposedly tastes almost the same, and is reputed to
> be zone 6, and I might be foolish enough to try that.
> However, the only source I see for it is Raintree, and their
> minimum shipping is rather a lot for just one plant. Is
> anyone else selling it, maybe closer to NY state?
> > 
> > Or, does anyone have an extra plant to spare? I could
> trade plants from my small fruit collection, or my larger
> collection of culinary herbs.
> > 
> > Melissa
> > zone 5, central NY, under yet another foot of snow as
> of last night.
> > 
> > 
> > 
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