Diablo Ninebark vs Chester Thornless Blackberry - TreeTime.ca

Diablo Ninebark vs Chester Thornless Blackberry

Rubus fruticosa Chester (Thornless)

Physocarpus opulifolius Diablo

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

Chester Thornless Blackberry
Diablo Ninebark

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.

Diablo Ninebark is a small, low maintenance, multi-stemmed shrub, that is used to add texture or color to any yard. This plant grows dark purple leaves in the spring and grows slightly faster than Common Ninebark. It features flaky red to brown bark, clusters of white flowers, and long, maple-like leaves. Diablo Ninebark can make a dense and colorful hedge, or it can be an attractive ornamental by itself.

Chester Thornless Blackberry Quick Facts

Diablo Ninebark Quick Facts

Zone: 3b
Zone: 3a
Height: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Height: 2.4 m (8 ft)
Spread: 3 m (10 ft)
Spread: 1.8 m (6 ft)
Light: full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: normal, wet
Moisture: dry, normal
Growth rate: fast
Growth rate: fast
Life span: short
Life span: short
Suckering: high
Suckering: low
Maintenance: high
Maintenance: medium


Foliage: reddish-purple
Fall colour: yellow
Bark: brown to red, exfoliating
Flowers: pink
Flowers: white
Berries: heart shaped black
Berries: red
Firmness: firm
Harvest: July
Seeds: inflated seed capsules
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Other Names: chester blackberry, hardy blackberry
Other Names: eastern ninebark, purple ninebark