Northern Gooseberry vs Chester Thornless Blackberry - TreeTime.ca

Northern Gooseberry vs Chester Thornless Blackberry

Ribes oxyacanthoides

Rubus fruticosa Chester (Thornless)

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Northern Gooseberry
Chester Thornless Blackberry

Northern Gooseberry is a small, ornamental quality native shrub with prickly stems. You can plant it anywhere you'd plant Prickly Rose or Common Wild Rose, such as your yard.

Most people find Northern Gooseberry berries a bit tart for significant fresh eating but they are good for baking, wine or jam.

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.

Northern Gooseberry Quick Facts

Chester Thornless Blackberry Quick Facts

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Zone: 1a
Zone: 3b
Height: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Height: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Spread: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Spread: 3 m (10 ft)
Light: any
Light: full sun
Moisture: normal, wet
Moisture: normal, wet
Growth rate: fast
Growth rate: fast
Life span: short
Life span: short
Suckering: none
Suckering: high


Flowers: pink
Berries: purple or purplish black
Berries: heart shaped black
Firmness: firm
Harvest: July
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, QC, NL, YT, NT
Other Names: canada gooseberry, canadian gooseberry
Other Names: chester blackberry, hardy blackberry