To ensure good pollination, you need to plant at least two varieties, such as…

Duke, a new variety of blueberry, originating in New Jersey and suitable for USDA zones 3 to 7.

The Plant Man is here to help. Triple Crown was tested extensively by agricultural research scientists before finally being offered to nurseries starting in 1996. But why stop there when you can add taste to the sensual mix? Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to steve@landsteward.org and for resources and additional info, or to subscribe to Steve’s free e-mailed newsletter, visit www.landsteward.org

Yes, it really is thornless and that’s a big benefit to those of us whose hands and forearms seem to be magnets for little scratches when we work around our plants. For unmistaken pollination, plant Kiwi Gold close to some regular red raspberries. A nice benefit: Kiwi Gold stays firm and won’t turn to mush in your hands whether you delay picking it for a day or two. Blueray is considered a good pollinator for other highbush varieties. Oregon State University trials found 8-year-old plants yielding 30 pounds or more of berries per plant.

Colors and aromas satisfy two of our senses – sight and smell.

Blackberry Triple Crown Thornless

Cheryl and I recently discovered that relatively new blackberry and we quickly became enthusiasts. that one ripens early with firm, nicely colored fruit that has a very pleasant taste.

Here are a couple of suggestions that I hope will manufacture your mouth water! (If you’re unsure of the USDA zone in which you live, send an e-mail with your city and state to steve@landsteward.org and I’ll check for you.)

Kiwi Gold is a yellow-gold variety noted for its sweet flavor and great holding ability on the vine.

Start planning now for many summers of delicious, home-grown fruit!

Kiwi Gold tolerates most soil types but prefers deep, well-drained, fertile soil. whether you need some online shopping help, feel free to send me an e-mail.

Blue Crop, a hardy variety of blueberry that produces large fruit when planted

near to other varieties such as Earliblue or Jersey.

Blueberries

If you enjoy blueberries in fruit salads, muffins and pancakes, why not grow your own? It is described by horticulturists as ever-bearing: you’ll get a good crop around June and an even better crop in the fall. The bush itself can form an appealing and decorative hedge with its pink-tinged white spring flowers and vibrant yellow-gold fall foliage, in addition to the blue summer fruit. Tests show that it resists powdery mildew, too. Blue Crop grows to a height of 6 or 7 feet with fruit ripening in mid July. Best of all, in addition to its delightful sunny-gold color, it’s delicious! Rather it gets its name from its three crowning attributes: flavor, productivity and vigor.

Some of the fruiting plants I’ve described are quite new and might be tricky to track down.

The fruit is additionally suitable for juices, pies, syrups and preserves, according to puree trials by the Oregon testers. With the Holidays and the Winter Solstice behind us and the days slowly but surely growing longer as we head towards spring, we can start to enjoy mental images of gardens and landscapes alive with colors and aromas where now we see only bleak soil and dry branches! The name, by the way, doesn’t refer to horse racing. It is quite versatile and hardy in cold climates where other cane fruits tend to fail.

Blueray, a mid-season blueberry that is upright, productive and vigorous. Include fruiting plants in your spring planting plans and you could soon, literally, be enjoying the fruits of your labor.

However, for us the “wow factor� came from the size of the fruit that that variety can produce, based on results achieved in agricultural analyzing. We’ve found you can get about 20 pounds of fruit from a without plant by the course of a season, so you’d better have a really good muffin recipe.

Raspberry Kiwi Gold

As you might guess from its name, Kiwi Gold originated in New Zealand but does well in the United States, growing in USDA zones 4 to 8.