Chester Thornless Blackberry vs Redwing Highbush Cranberry - TreeTime.ca

Chester Thornless Blackberry vs Redwing Highbush Cranberry

Rubus fruticosa Chester (Thornless)

Viburnum trilobum JN Select

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Chester Thornless Blackberry
Redwing 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.

The Redwing Highbush Cranberry is a dense multi-stemmed shrub that blooms with white pinwheel shaped flowers in spring. It produces small, red, and edible berries in late summer. Its leaves are green, but the tips become more saturated with red throughout the season, and then turn a stunning crimson colour in the fall.

The Redwing Highbush Cranberry makes a good addition to any urban garden or hedge, and its berries are commonly used to liven up preserves with their tart flavor.

Chester Thornless Blackberry Quick Facts

Redwing Highbush Cranberry Quick Facts

Zone: 3b
Zone: 2a
Height: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Height: 3 m (10 ft)
Spread: 3 m (10 ft)
Spread: 2.1 m (7 ft)
Light: full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: normal, wet
Moisture: normal, wet
Growth rate: fast
Growth rate: fast
Life span: short
Life span: medium
Suckering: high
Suckering: low


Foliage: red tips on leaves
Fall colour: red/orange
Flowers: pink
Flowers: white, pinwheel shaped
Berries: heart shaped black
Berries: small, red
Firmness: firm
Flavor: sour
Harvest: July
Harvest: late August-February
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Other Names: chester blackberry, hardy blackberry