Blackberry Asterina - Rubus fruticosus

The Asterina Garden Blackberry is a thornless variety that produces large round fruits that are highly fragrant and very productive. This fruiting bramble is easy to grow but requires support for training. Plant in autumn or spring for a harvest starting in August.

The fruiting bramble is a bush with long flexible branches, very hardy, capable of withstanding temperatures down to -25°C (-13°F). Its deciduous leaves are toothed and spiny. It blooms in spring and summer, with small white and pink flowers that later turn into round berries. The blackberries can be eaten fresh after harvest or used in preserves, jellies, ice creams, and in pastries (pies, muffins...). Harvesting takes place in summer and early autumn. The fruits are ripe when they easily detach from their support. Although the varieties are self-fertile, it is advisable to plant at least 2 plants to improve fruiting, spacing them 2 meters (7 feet) apart.

In the garden, it is necessary to provide support for training: a fence, a trellis, a wall, or a fence on which horizontal wires are fixed. Indeed, the canes, whether climbing or erect, will reach about 5 meters (16 feet) in length. Don't worry, cultivated blackberries produce many suckers at the base but are much less invasive than wild blackberries. Furthermore, some varieties are thornless, such as the Asterina variety, making picking easier.

Blackberries can be grown in different areas of the garden. Training on a shallow depth allows for the creation of a small edible hedge or can be grown individually, bordering the vegetable garden, orchard, or ornamental garden.

The fruiting bramble, producing garden blackberries, is sometimes confused with the mulberry tree, a tree that grows 5 to 10 meters (16 to 33 feet) tall. The bramble belongs to the Rosaceae family, while the mulberry tree, whether white or black, belongs to the Moraceae family.