Name: Rubus ‘Doyle Thornless’ aka Doyle’s thornless blackberry
Type of Plant: This blackberry plant is a shrub but it’s probably best grown as a vine because the canes grow 10 to 15 feet long. The plant does well in part-sun to part-shade. AHS Heat Zone: 10 – 1 USDA Hardiness Zone: 3 – 8
Why I love this: Many blackberries have long stems but most of them are prickly. The Doyle Thornless blackberry is surpasses common varieties in both the length of the stems and the fact that there are no thorns! The berries on ‘Doyle Thornless’ are huge and sweet. Surprisingly, we don’t find that the birds are all that interested in them, so we normally have more berries then we know what to do with. If you like making jelly or mixed berry pies, this is a plant you’ll want to grow provided you have the space.
A Word to the Wise: Don’t grow this as a shrub or you’ll be overwhelmed. Know too that this isn’t a “plant and forget it” berry bush. Because the canes grow one year and bear fruit the next, you’ll need to prune down the stems that had berries at the end of the fall, and leave the newer stems for next year’s fruiting.
This is the perfect plant to grow over an arbor, or on a trellis in part-shade.
Blackberries can be prone to botrytis, or gray mold, especially in humid summers. We spray our plants with Actinovate through the growing season to suppress this.
We are still picking blackberries at the end of September this year! This is most likely due to the cooler, drier summer weather. In hot weather the berries ripen more quickly
This blackberry is smokin! Actually, just a photo of the moisture from a summer rain evaporating off a warm roof…but look how long the canes of this plant are. They begin on the SIDE of this building, grow up the side wall and then were tacked along the roof line for about 12 feet. The white berries are as pretty as any vine and later you get fruit! BTW – this is the NORTH side of our shed.
This shot shows the body of the plant on the west side of the shed. It’s in a location that is partly shaded by trees in the afternoon, so this is definitely a part-shade situation.
These are wonderful in pies, cakes and muffins.
