Raspberry-Blackberry Boysenberry

The Raspberry-Blackberry Boysenberry, is a fruit-bearing bush that produces an abundance of large, elongated fruits that are purple to black, both sweet and tangy, fragrant and juicy! It is a sarmentose (i.e. it produces runners) and thornless plant with a rather climbing habit, which should be trained or placed against a trellis. Very productive, it is self-fertile, disease-resistant, and perfectly hardy. It is one of the simplest fruit plants to grow, simply plant it in the sun, in any well-drained soil.

The Boysenberry Bush belongs to the large family of Rosaceae. The boysenberry is a cross between a raspberry, a blackberry, and a loganberry (another raspberry-blackberry hybrid) made by an individual on his farm in California in the 1920s. It has a branching and flexible habit, spreading, with branches that can reach 1.5m (5ft) in length, and a stump that can occupy 1.5m (5ft) of the ground. The foliage is deciduous, bright green, composed of entire, wavy and toothed leaves, with visible veins, very similar to raspberry leaves. The stems are without thorns. They only live to bear fruit (3 years) and are gradually replaced by shoots coming from the stump. Production reaches its normal level in the third year after planting. The abundant and honey-bearing flowering gives many small white flowers, 1.5cm (1in) in diameter, grouped in clusters. It occurs in May. The fruits that form are made up of drupes clustered on the receptacle, adhering. They are large, elongated, measuring up to 5cm (2in) long, initially appearing red and then turning violet to black at ripeness, in July-August. They should be picked when fully ripe, as they are both sweet and tangy, very balanced, combining the fragrance of raspberry and blackberry. The fruits can be consumed fresh at the time of picking, frozen, and are perfect for making jams.

The Boysenberry produces very long and flexible branches that must be trained (on a trellis, fence, or lattice). Hardy and easy to grow, it is content with ordinary soil, although it prefers fertile, well-drained, and moist soil. It will thrive against a sunny wall, highlighting the bare wood of the flexible branches in winter. Boysenberries, like raspberries, contain two specific sugars, levulose and fructose, very little sucrose, so they are not very calorific. The fruits also contain ellagic acid, tannins, vitamin C, and are a good source of potassium.