Lakeshore Garden Centres Plant Finder

Other Names:  Thornless Blackberry

Group/Class:  Floricane - Summer Bearing

Description:

Huge, sweet, high quality berries with good flavor, on this highly disease resistant hybrid cultivar; perfect for a trellis, edible garden, or patio containers; use a specific pruning regimen and protect from birds

Edible Qualities

Natchez Thornless Blackberry is a small shrub that is typically grown for its edible qualities. It produces clusters of black heart-shaped berries which are usually ready for picking in mid summer. The berries have a sweet taste and a juicy texture.

The berries are most often used in the following ways:

• Fresh Eating
• Cooking
• Baking
• Preserves
• Canning
• Freezing

Features & Attributes

Natchez Thornless Blackberry features dainty clusters of white star-shaped flowers from mid to late spring. It has green deciduous foliage. The fuzzy oval compound leaves do not develop any appreciable fall colour. It features an abundance of magnificent black berries in mid summer.

This is an open multi-stemmed deciduous shrub with a spreading, ground-hugging habit of growth. Its relatively coarse texture can be used to stand it apart from other landscape plants with finer foliage. This is a high maintenance plant that will require regular care and upkeep. Each spring, cut back all dead and two-year old canes to the ground, leaving only last year's growth standing. It is a good choice for attracting birds to your yard. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Suckering
• Disease

Aside from its primary use as an edible, Natchez Thornless Blackberry is sutiable for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens
• Orchard/Edible Landscaping
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Natchez Thornless Blackberry will grow to be about 4 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 10 feet. It tends to be a little leggy, with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. This is a self-pollinating variety, so it doesn't require a second plant nearby to set fruit.

This shrub may not always play well with others; as such, it is best grown in its own designated garden space or isolated area of an edibles garden. It should only be grown in full sunlight. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Natchez Thornless Blackberry is a good choice for the edible garden, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its spreading habit of growth, it is ideally suited for use as a 'spiller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the edges where it can spill gracefully over the pot. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden. Be aware that in our climate, most plants cannot be expected to survive the winter if left in containers outdoors, and this plant is no exception. Contact our experts for more information on how to protect it over the winter months.

This plant is not reliably hardy in our region, and certain restrictions may apply; contact the store for more information.