Cascade Blackberry

George Waldo's original Cascade cross from 1942 is Rubus ursinus 'Zielinski' x Logan and this plant appears to have traits which match his description of it, at least from initial growth (https://digitalcollections.library.oregon.gov/nodes/view/306324). I planted mine in the ground in August and 3 months later (late October) it has multiple 12ft+ long canes and is even pushing out new primocanes. Canes have a green/purple grey glaucous tint and resemble R. ursinus in behavior. Easy plant to grow. Takes care of itself.

Each of my siblings and I have Cascade Blackberries that came from our step-grandpa. I believe they are a-cross between the marionberry and logan berry. I wish I could remember. The people that know are deceased. The berries are delicious, long fruit with dark red and black. They make amazing jam and pie. And, so many thorns on the vines. The above picture does not look like our cascade berries. Maybe I should send one to be analyzed.

The Cascade berries we planted in the early 1960's came from Oregon State University. They were thicker caned with longer berries that tasted similar to wild blackberries. This stock looks nothing like them. These look roundish comparatively and more like a marionberry.

Growing up, I spent a great deal of time at my grandparents home nestled along the Cowlitz River in Randle. My grandma had an amazing garden and a berry patch full of Cascade berries. I spent hours in the berry patch snacking from the vines. Grandma also used them to make jam. No other jam compared to the flavor of the Cascade berry jam.

The home is still in our family, but sadly the berry patch is no longer there. I was SO EXCITED when I found Cascade berry starts available through Raintree! I ordered starts that very day and scheduled a March pick up date.

The quality of the starts I received was excellent. They were healthy, leafy and ready to go into the ground. I opted for repotting the starts into large containers with supports for now, as it became clear that the area that was to become the berry patch needed more work. I am looking forward to seasons of Cascade berry jam in the future.

I will definitely be ordering more starts, (and let’s face it - other plants too), and will highly recommend Raintree Nursery to anyone to everyone. Because they are a local, family-owned company they have great knowledge of which plants will do well here. The ordering process was seamless and the customer service on pick up day was excellent
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