Rubus 'Silvanberry'

Heavy crops of delicious berries. The trailing stems grow 2-7 metres with the fruit ready from around mid December.

The berries ripen from red to black and grow 3-3.5cm long, 1-1.5cm wide. More free fruiting than Youngberries or Boysenberries with a little tartness to their flavour. A cross of Boysenberry and Marionberry.

Silvan Berry was bred in the early 1970s right here in Silvan and has gone by other names; American Bramble Berry, Black Logan, Silvanberry and Scoresby Selection.

You can eat the berries straight from the bush or cook them into jams, pies, sauces etc.

The canes are semi erect and should be supported on a trellis for best results. Train them up and down the trellis like an ABC logo, plaiting them through the wires. Be gentle as they can be brittle.

Top prune in summer to encourage branching, and remove the old canes in winter ? they fruit on last year?s stems (one year wood). The plants are self-fertile, so you only need to start with one, though come harvest time you may wish you had planted more!

Plant Silvan Berry in full sun, into humus rich, well drained soil. Space 150-180cm apart. Plant the cane quite shallow, around 10cm deep. Water in and keep moist when in flower and fruit. Add some mulch to help with water retention and weed reduction. Protect from hot afternoon sun and water well in dry weather or shelter.