Highbush Cranberry vs Chester Thornless Blackberry - TreeTime.ca

Highbush Cranberry vs Chester Thornless Blackberry

Rubus fruticosa Chester (Thornless)

Viburnum trilobum

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(new stock expected: fall of 2026)

Chester Thornless Blackberry
Highbush Cranberry

Chester Thornless Blackberry is a self-pollinating fruit-bearing shrub. In mid-summer, the Chester Thornless Blackberry produces large, sweet-tasting, heart-shaped blackberries that are perfect for fresh eating. It is a semi-erect blackberry plant that requires little support from a trellis to keep its fruit off the ground. Don't forget to protect your berries. The birds love this shrub almost as much as you will.

Chester Thornless Blackberries are floricanes, primarily fruiting on second year canes. Each spring cut back all two-year old canes, leaving only the last year’s growth.

Highbush Cranberry produces attractive white flowers in late June and bears edible fruit that matures to a bright red colour in the late summer.

This shrub, native to much of Canada, is fast growing, and its fruit can be eaten raw or cooked into a sauce.

Chester Thornless Blackberry Quick Facts

Highbush Cranberry Quick Facts

Lowest Price: $12.49 - SAVE UP TO 26%
Zone: 3b
Zone: 2a
Height: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Height: 4 m (13 ft)
Spread: 3 m (10 ft)
Spread: 2.7 m (9 ft)
Light: full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: normal, wet
Moisture: normal
Growth rate: fast
Growth rate: medium
Life span: short
Life span: medium
Suckering: high
Suckering: none


Flowers: pink
Flowers: white clusters
Berries: heart shaped black
Berries: edible red berries
Firmness: firm
Harvest: July
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


In row spacing: 0.6 m (2.0 ft)
Between row spacing: 5 m (16 ft)
Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, QC, NS, NB, NL, PE
Other Names: chester blackberry, hardy blackberry
Other Names: american cranberrybush, american cranberrybush viburnum, high bush cranberry, kalyna