The Anna Apple is a mixed bag this year.

Some of the apples on my Anna Apple tree are formed nicely, but I estimate that up to a third of the Apples did not pollinate correctly due to the spring rains or lack of bees? Not sure.

Some nicely formed Anna Apples that I am happy with….but look in the lower left corner. See that skinny one? It was not cross pollinated or pollinated correctly.

I need to learn how to prune. The tree is a little lanky, and it leaned a little toward the fence some time after planting. If it leans more, I may have to stake the tree with straps to convince it back to proper standing.

May Blackberry Update

The Blackberries are awakening and showing signs of life. The Black Satin Blackberry had some issues and there was some die off on three of the four canes. The fourth cane seems to be happy with new growth on it, but I will keep a careful eye to see if there will be some future issues. If you want to see a before and after of how far these plants came along, just scroll down a few stories to see when they were planted. You can click on the photos to make them much bigger. Double-clicking makes them give the finest detail.

You can see the brown canes that have died off. They were very small and week to begin with. There is one healthy cane that has new growth on the bottom, and further up on the blackberry cane.

Some new growth up 5 feet from the base of the Black Satin Blackberry.

Some new growth on the Olallieberry. I am quite surprised how fast this berry has adapted to being transplanted. There is a Kiowa Blackberry in the white bag sitting in wet sawdust chips for two months. I should transplant it to a pot at least. I don’t have any room to plant it at the moment. Maybe a backup if the Black Satin Blackberry dies?

The newly planted Marionberry is taking off too. With new growth coming from the base as well as new growth coming from the existing canes. You can see the Thornless Boysenberry in the background establishing new canes.

The Thorned Boysenberry is beginning to sprawl over the yard. I propped some of the canes over a shovel to keep the new growth from getting scorched on the hot ground. Once the canes are long enough, I will attach them to the trellis. Yes, you can see a bunch of Anna Apples in the lower right corner.

The Triple Crown Blackberries are the last of my berries to show any signs of growth. Seems like they wanted to sleep in this year.

Another close up view of the Triple Crown Blackberry growth. I should see a few berries this year.

Some more growth on another of my Triple Crown Blackberries.

Another view of the thorned blackberry patch. (Thorned Boysenberry, Marionberry, Olallieberry)

The Baba Red Raspberry is in a pot, but has managed to give me a handful of berries. I need to find a place for this berry. The flavor is awesome.

This a temporary home for this Baba Red Raspberry. I just need to keep it alive until the fall.

The roses are putting up a show.

It is that time of the year where my roses are exploding with color. They get a good hair cut in the fall and a dose of Miracle Grow fertilizer in the spring. Other than that they get watered when thirsty.

Baba Red Raspberries….What to do?

I didn’t know what to do with my Bababerries, so I chickened out and planted them in containers. I am worried about heavy clay soggy soils that Raspberries do not like. I am also concerned about runners and the spread of the patch. It is my understanding that Raspberries can be hard to control once they are established. Maybe I will need to construct a raised bed. It looks like I will have a handful of berries off the plants that I have in containers.

Looks like I will have a handful of Raspberries this year. I have them planted in containers until I know where I want to plant them.

 

There is a hint of life in the blackberry patch

I was getting real nervous about the thornless blackberry plants that went in the ground last July. They thrived right through fall and then came the winter rains which caused my berries to become saturated. The  Triple Crowns have nice green vines and the buds are swelling. I am finally seeing some green.  These are last years canes that will provide me with some fruit this season.  I have not seen new canes come from the crown of the plant yet. Hopefully, I will see some monster canes in the next few weeks. See photos below. You can click on the photos to enlarge them.

The buds are beginning to break on my Triple Crown Blackberries. I guess they wanted a little extra sleep since they are still growing.

Some more emerging growth from the Triple Crown Blackberry.

I am still worries about my Black Satin though. It has only one green cane and the rest have turned brown and are starting to shrink. It may have succumbed to the water logged soil. If the plant does not show signs of life, I will put another blackberry in it’s place. See photo below.

The Black Satin seems to be having a tough time. I will be patient. Eventually I may have to replace it with another berry variety.

The recently planted thorned varieties are doing very well. They are ill small since they were planted about a month ago. But they are showing new signs of growth.

The Boysenberry plant seems very happy. It should be very large by the end of fall.

The Olallieberry is planted in the lowest part of my yard and is underwater far more than the rest of the plants. I would say that this plant seems to be taking the abuse well.

Even the potted Marionberry, which I thought was dead over the summer from lack of watering is showing signs of life. I planted a month ago in the ground, not expecting much.

The last of my Blackberries have been planted and the trellis is up.

Planted the Marionberry and Olallieberry and pounded in the trellis to support them. I hope there is enough room for the semi Dwarf Anna Apple Tree and the berry bushes. I think I will be trimming heavily over the next few years.

The Olallieberry will be trained against our outdoor dog enclosure, which our dog only uses during the heat of the summer. At least the plant will provide shade for her.

Tip rooting blackberries

The blackberry has to be the easiest plant in the world to propagate. Simply put soil on top of one of the blackberry canes. You can also neglect the plant and let the canes touch the ground as I did with the Marionberry. If you don’t trellis the canes each year, you may have a monster growing in your yard. The Marionberry pictured below, tip-rooted twice by mistake. I managed to pull this one up, the other is broken off in one of Shelley’s flower beds. I better get it out of there or I am going to be toast. Growing blackberries requires due diligence in keeping them from spreading.

This Marionberry cane touched the ground and started new roots. Tip-rooting is one of the major ways that blackberry bushes can grow into monsters in just a few years. I plant to trellis all seven of my blackberry plants.