Very popular for its variety of uses, the blackberry is a wonderful flavored fruiting cane, great for eating fresh, jams, syrups and pies. We have selected our favorites for the Pacific Northwest but also to do well to the zones listed. Select from prickly or thorn-less blackberry brambles. Trailing blackberries and semi-erect plants require some type of support such as a trellis. However, there are also erect blackberries that can be grown freestanding and will form a thicket. Blackberries are self-pollinating but benefit from another variety for higher yields.

Thorny erect varieties such as Kiowa, Chickasaw and Prime Ark 45 have long harvest periods, larger berries and yields than other types of blackberries. Zone 6-10.

Trailing blackberries have thorns and a more classic sweet blackberry flavor. Black Butte, Columbia Star, Kotata, Obsidian, and Sylvan Blackberry will all require support and more frequent pruning of their vigorous spreading canes. These cultivars produce some of the best tasting, large, sweet blackberries. Typically not the hardiest, but newer developments such as Sylvan Blackberry do better in extreme hot or cold weather and are hardy up to Zone 3. Marionberry is very popular in the Pacific Northwest and is considered the standard of excellence for blackberries.

Black Diamond and Columbia Star are our thornless trailing blackberries. Similar tasting to a classic Marionberry but hardier and no thorns!

Boysenberry and Loganberry are hybrids of Raspberry x Trailing Blackberries with similar management and trailing growth. The Dewberry (Rubus caesius) is also related to trailing blackberries and has gray-blue berries that are very juicy.

Thornless blackberries grow semi-erect and will need some support. Flavor is usually described as slightly more bitter but the yields are very large and pruning is much easier. Apache, Arapaho, Black Satin, Loch Ness, Natchez, Navaho, Osage, and Triple Crown are considered by us to be our favorite thornless cultivars.