Chester Thornless Blackberry vs Madawaska Raspberry - TreeTime.ca

Chester Thornless Blackberry vs Madawaska Raspberry

Rubus sp. Madawaska

Rubus fruticosa Chester (Thornless)

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Chester Thornless Blackberry

The Madawaska Raspberry is a productive, early-fruiting variety with dark red berries that are juicy with a medium sweet flavor. They are very winter-hardy with great disease resistance. The berries are great for fresh eating and for baking or preserves.

The Madawaska Raspberry is a primocane variety. Prune stalks down each winter or early spring to get higher fruit yields and easier harvesting.

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.

Madawaska Raspberry Quick Facts

Chester Thornless Blackberry Quick Facts

Zone: 3a
Zone: 3b
Height: 1.5 m (5 ft)
Height: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Spread: 1.5 m (5 ft)
Spread: 3 m (10 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: full sun
Moisture: normal
Moisture: normal, wet
Growth rate: fast
Growth rate: fast
Life span: short
Life span: short
Suckering: high
Suckering: high
Maintenance: high
Maintenance: high


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


Other Names: chester blackberry, hardy blackberry