Guest guest Posted March 5, 2009 Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 Anyone grow Marion berries? I've heard great things about the ease of growing and how good they are. Thanks, Shari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 5, 2009 Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 What are Marion berries? I wonder if they would grow in Florida. Judy (who lives in Florida) On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 7:37 PM, SV <shavig wrote: > Anyone grow Marion berries? I've heard great things about the ease of > growing and how good they are. > > Thanks, Shari > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 5, 2009 Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 Shari, I used to know alot about them before I went raw. I believe I heard they are a close relative to a more common berry, maybe eldeberries. I think there is something about them that contain them to the NW climate. Now if you ask me about ramps.... Nick - SV Thursday, March 05, 2009 7:37 PM Marion berries Anyone grow Marion berries? I've heard great things about the ease of growing and how good they are. Thanks, Shari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 5, 2009 Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 Hi Judy, This page shows the parentage of Marion berries http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marionberry In short they are a combination of several different blackberries and raspberries. They do better in the Willamette Valley south of Portland Oregon (where they were bred) than around Seattle because they need more heat to fully develop the flavor and sweetness. Still, this whole family does pretty good around Seattle, especially in a really sunny location with deep rich soil. Generally I prefer the wild blackberries, so I can't say much about growing Marion berries around Seattle. While I don't think Florida gets much hotter in the summer than the Willamette Valley does, Florida has humid summers and the Willamette Valley has arid summers, mild drizzly rains instead of downpours, and much colder winters than Florida does. I don't think most of the cane berries do well in the deep south. However since a lot of northern fruit like apples and blueberries are very popular and valuable commercially, the southern states have made big progress in breeding varieties of these that do well much further south than they used to. You might check with the extension service in your state and neighboring states to see if they have developed heat tolerant cane berries of some kind. Sometimes this group of berries are called the bramble berries. Since the cane berries are very valuable commercially, it seems like the southern states would have at least been trying to develop varieties the local farmers could grow. I can't remember where you are in Florida. From what I can remember, the heat tolerate varieties of northern fruit species tend to start petering out around northern Florida. You will need to ask the extension services there to get the details. Georgia is more into heat tolerant northern species than Florida is because Florida focuses on the subtropical fruit species. Shari, you got me curious about this, I was experimenting with a tub with a few " thornless " blackberry plants in it that are still pretty prickly. The web page said the Marion Berry vines have " many large spines " . Now I'm thinking of maybe getting one Marion berry plant to put in the tub and do a thorn and flavor comparison and see if the big flavor is worth coping with the big thorns. One problem is that many of the cane family plants have small spines on the veins on the leaves, so a barefoot person can get stickered by last year's dead leaves on the ground. This has reduced my enthusiasm for having plants like this around home. Blueberries and strawberries have nice soft leaves and no sticker, spines, thorns, or anything like that. May your day be filled with clarity, grace, strength, progress, and warm laughter, Roger - " Judy Pokras " <vegwriter Thursday, March 05, 2009 4:58 PM Re: Marion berries > What are Marion berries? > > I wonder if they would grow in Florida. > > Judy (who lives in Florida) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 5, 2009 Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 Thanks, Roger! I'm in Sarasota, which is on Florida's west coast an hour south of Tampa. On Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 12:24 AM, Roger Padvorac <rogerwrote: > Hi Judy, > This page shows the parentage of Marion berries > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marionberry > In short they are a combination of several different blackberries and > raspberries. > > They do better in the Willamette Valley south of Portland Oregon (where > they were bred) than around Seattle because they need more heat to fully > develop the flavor and sweetness. Still, this whole family does pretty good > around Seattle, especially in a really sunny location with deep rich soil. > Generally I prefer the wild blackberries, so I can't say much about growing > Marion berries around Seattle. > > While I don't think Florida gets much hotter in the summer than the > Willamette Valley does, Florida has humid summers and the Willamette Valley > has arid summers, mild drizzly rains instead of downpours, and much colder > winters than Florida does. I don't think most of the cane berries do well in > the deep south. However since a lot of northern fruit like apples and > blueberries are very popular and valuable commercially, the southern states > have made big progress in breeding varieties of these that do well much > further south than they used to. > > You might check with the extension service in your state and neighboring > states to see if they have developed heat tolerant cane berries of some > kind. Sometimes this group of berries are called the bramble berries. Since > the cane berries are very valuable commercially, it seems like the southern > states would have at least been trying to develop varieties the local > farmers could grow. > > I can't remember where you are in Florida. From what I can remember, the > heat tolerate varieties of northern fruit species tend to start petering out > around northern Florida. You will need to ask the extension services there > to get the details. Georgia is more into heat tolerant northern species than > Florida is because Florida focuses on the subtropical fruit species. > > Shari, you got me curious about this, I was experimenting with a tub with a > few " thornless " blackberry plants in it that are still pretty prickly. The > web page said the Marion Berry vines have " many large spines " . Now I'm > thinking of maybe getting one Marion berry plant to put in the tub and do a > thorn and flavor comparison and see if the big flavor is worth coping with > the big thorns. > > One problem is that many of the cane family plants have small spines on the > veins on the leaves, so a barefoot person can get stickered by last year's > dead leaves on the ground. This has reduced my enthusiasm for having plants > like this around home. Blueberries and strawberries have nice soft leaves > and no sticker, spines, thorns, or anything like that. > > May your day be filled with clarity, grace, strength, progress, and warm > laughter, > Roger > > > - > " Judy Pokras " <vegwriter <vegwriter%40gmail.com>> > < <%40>> > Thursday, March 05, 2009 4:58 PM > Re: Marion berries > > > What are Marion berries? > > > > I wonder if they would grow in Florida. > > > > Judy (who lives in Florida) > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 8, 2009 Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 Hi Shari, I was looking around a bit because you got me curious about this, and found a berry that might work out better for you. www.raintreenursery.com/catalog/producttype.cfm?producttype=BLAC E508 Black Pearl Thornless Blackberry A new winning choice for the backyard connoisseur, this thornless cousin of Black Diamond boasts the wonderful flavor of the Marion berry, but with slightly increased cold hardiness and a larger, firmer berry. Vines, which are very productive, disease resistant and easy to grow, bear for several weeks in late July and August. This nursery is east of Centralia in the Cascade foothills and is a good source of food plants that do well in western Washington. Almost all of my perennial food plants have come from this nursery, and I live between Seattle and Tacoma. That they are selling the Black Pearl Thornless Blackberry instead of the Marion Berry could indicate they feel the Black Pearl Thornless Blackberry will do better in this area than the Marion Berry. May your day be filled with clarity, grace, strength, progress, and warm laughter, Roger - " SV " <shavig Thursday, March 05, 2009 4:37 PM Marion berries > Anyone grow Marion berries? I've heard great things about the ease of growing and how good they are. > > Thanks, Shari > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 8, 2009 Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 Thank you Roger. I will look into this. Maybe Joe and I will take a trip down that way in the very near future and pick some up. Shari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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