Thornless Loganberry - Raspberry-Blackberry

The Thornless Loganberry, also known as the raspberry-blackberry, is a hardy variety, resistant to cold and diseases. It is a climbing perennial plant, almost devoid of thorns, with long flexible branches that grow rapidly. It produces large dark red fruits, turning black when ripe, in July-August. Their taste, a mixture of blackberry and raspberry, is semi-sweet and slightly tart. It has beautiful deciduous foliage, with wavy leaves that are a vibrant green. Very productive, it is self-fertile, very vigorous, and quite hardy. Without a doubt, this little fruit will surprise food lovers.

The Loganberry belongs to the genus Rubus, which is native to the mountains of the Caucasus in Asia Minor. The genus has diversified over time and has given rise to several subgenera, including the raspberry (Rubus idaeus) and the common blackberry (Rubus fruticosus). The Thornless Loganberry is a self-fertile hybrid of a wild blackberry and a raspberry, created by Mr. James Harvey Logan in 1881 in Santa Cruz, California. The Thornless Loganberry is the result of a crossbreeding between the Loganberry and a thornless blackberry.

Hardy and easy to grow, the Thornless Loganberry thrives in ordinary soil, with a preference for fertile, well-drained, and moist soil. It is best suited to the shelter of a sunny or partially shaded wall, which will highlight the bare wood of the flexible branches in winter.
The Thornless Loganberry is a climbing perennial plant with a semi-shrub and bushy habit. The branches can reach 2 to 3 metres (7 to 10 feet) in length, and the stump can occupy 0.5 metres (2 feet) of ground space. These branches will need to be trained along fences, trellises, pergolas, or arches... there are many solutions.
The foliage is deciduous, bright green, and composed of entire, wavy, and dentate leaves with visible veins, very similar to raspberry leaves. The stems are thornless. They only live to bear fruit (2 years) and are gradually replaced by new shoots emerging from the stump.
The abundant and honey-scented flowering displays numerous small white-pink flowers, measuring 1.5 to 2 cm (1in) in diameter, grouped in clusters. It occurs from May to June, starting from the first year of planting.

The fruits, called loganberries, are composed of drupes clustered on the receptacle, adherent. They are large in size, much bigger than those of wild blackberries, turning red and then black from August to October. They should be picked when fully ripe, as they become sweet and tart, juicy and flavourful, with a taste that is a blend between blackberry and raspberry. The fruits can be eaten fresh right after picking, used in jellies, jams, pies, or in sorbets, syrups, and juices. They can also be perfectly preserved in the freezer.