Purple Leaf Sand Cherry vs Chester Thornless Blackberry - TreeTime.ca

Purple Leaf Sand Cherry vs Chester Thornless Blackberry

Prunus x cistena

Rubus fruticosa Chester (Thornless)

CUSTOM GROW

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

Purple Leaf Sand Cherry
Chester Thornless Blackberry

Purple Leaf Sand Cherry provides bright reddish-purple leaves that turn bronze-green in the fall. In the spring, tiny flowers with a pinkish white hue bloom. The flowers are small, but the impact comes from the shrub blossoming all at once.

The Purple leaf sand cherry can be susceptible to pests and diseases in more humid areas; a typical life span is approximately 15 years. Not suitable for a privacy hedge on its own but is often alternated with lilacs. Often used as an accent plant that attracts birds and bees.

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.

Purple Leaf Sand Cherry Quick Facts

Chester Thornless Blackberry Quick Facts

Zone: 3a
Zone: 3b
Height: 1.8 m (6 ft)
Height: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Spread: 1.8 m (6 ft)
Spread: 3 m (10 ft)
Light: any
Light: full sun
Moisture: dry, normal
Moisture: normal, wet
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: fast
Life span: short
Life span: short
Suckering: low
Suckering: high
Maintenance: high

Toxicity: the leaves and seed are slightly toxic

Foliage: purple leaves
Fall colour: dark red
Bark: dark red to purple
Flowers: pinkish
Flowers: pink
Fruit: dark red fruit
Berries: heart shaped black
Firmness: firm
Harvest: July
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Other Names: purpleleaf sandcherry
Other Names: chester blackberry, hardy blackberry