Thornless Blackberry Black Satin - Rubus fruticosus

The Black Satin Blackberry is a very productive and vigorous variety of thornless fruiting bramble. It produces large elongated blackberries, soft, shiny, tasty and juicy, slightly acidic. It is a self-fertile variety, which yields an abundant harvest from late July to October. The fruits are great for making jams, jellies or pies. It should be planted in ordinary soil, not too dry to moist, in full sun or partial shade.

The Black Satin garden blackberry belongs to the Rosaceae family. It is a perennial climbing vine-plant, reaching maturity in two years, with branches that can grow up to 3 to 5 meters (10 to 16 feet) in length, and a stump that can occupy 0.5 to 1 meter (2 to 3 feet) of soil. The foliage is deciduous, dark green, composed of compound, deeply toothed leaves with visible veins, very similar to wild blackberry leaves. The stems are smooth, living only to bear fruit (2 years) and are gradually replaced by shoots originating from the stump. The flowering, abundant and honey-producing, displays numerous small pale pink flowers measuring 1.5 cm (1in) in diameter, grouped in clusters. It occurs early, in May. The fruits are formed of drupes clustered on the receptacle. They are large-sized, shiny black when ripe, from late July. They should be harvested when fully black, as they are then both sweet and tangy, juicy and tasty. The fruits can be consumed fresh right after picking, frozen, used in pies or made into jam.

The Thornless Black Satin Blackberry is a plant with very long flexible branches that must be trellised (with a wire mesh, fence, or trellis). Hardy and easy to grow, it thrives in ordinary soil, although it prefers fertile, well-drained and moist soil. It will do well against a sunny or partially shaded wall, showcasing the bare wood of the flexible branches in winter. Thornless blackberries are hybrids derived from the Thornless Common Bramble, Rubus var. inermis, itself obtained through the cross-breeding of blackberry and raspberry. Extensive improvement and selection work has led to the development of numerous particularly productive thornless varieties, most of which are of American origin.