Good: grows in light shade (in fact prefers it), fruit protected by calyx
till ripe so nearly all fruits are perfect, particularly good with French
vanilla ice cream
Bad: birds love 'em so make sure to go out first thing every morning in
season and pick if you want to get any, fruit has a slightly sticky texture
that some folks don't like
Ugly: tip-roots like crazy so if you don't maintain your patch it will
quickly become sprawling and impenetrable; canes so thick at base that you
may need to use a saw rather than shears to get rid of old ones
I grow mine between wires like regular raspberries and cut back the canes to
about 6 feet in spring (typically they'll be at least 12 feet long at that
point). They seem to like a bit more moisture than raspberries. Although
the local wild flower society recommends eradicating them as an invasive, I
haven't seen a lot of unwanted plants arising from my patch in the nearly 20
years we've grown them. But it's necessary to mow along the sides of the row
to keep things under control.
Michael Bove
Teakettle Farm, Z6 (MA/RI border)
On Mar 25, 2013, at 10:39 PM, Larry D. Cook wrote: