Wanted to showcase two varieties I'm growing: Prime-ark Freedom & Prime-ark 45.

Freedom is the larger of the two (the one pictured was huge!), tastes similar to something you'd get at the grocery store.. very good berries off this one.
45 tastes slightly different, not as good as Freedom, has thorns and produces similarly sized berries to the ones you'd buy at the grocery store.

Still waiting on Triple Crown to ripen, but it's looking like I may replace 45 with something else next year. Note: all of my blackberries & raspberries (among others) are grown on the southwest side of my house and only get 6 hours of light per day.

 

Hi Ross.
That freedom looks awesome. How old is the plant?
Vito

Last year I received it kind of late in the season, Vito, so it didn't grow much! This year I finally planted it and it took off really quickly. The closest plant in the bed is Prime-Ark 45. The second closest is Prime-ark Freedom. I should also note that these only get 6 hours of light. They're on the southwest side of the house. The Triple Crown's which haven't ripened yet are first year plants.

Last year the doves were waiting and didn't allow a single berry to ripen for me. I was also running out of space, so I gave mine away to a farmer with lots of chicken. I might get another one at some point in the future. I will wait for your report. Thanks for posting.

My blackberries plants are very old.  Estimate > 50 years since when I moved in 21 years ago they had been there many years already. 
They are on the north side of a building so they get very little sun.  Don't know the variety they have no thorns, range 1 - 2 " long and 3/4" diameter.  They start ripening end of July and continue well into September. 

 

That freedom blackberry is huge! Looks awesome.I am not a fan or store bought blackberries,all suger and too watery for me,I grew up in picking wild blackberries,I have a patch about 10fy by 3ft dedicated to blackberries,what I do is just dig them up when they pop up around the place,the dense planting keeps most of them as smaller plants but they are hugely variable,some are monsters and just want to grow,others not so much,the fruit is very variable too,some gain a good size and retain more of a tart-sweet flavour and more seed crunch,more to my taste.Im thinking I might just select out the best and pull up the others,especially the aggressive growers,they just throw up new plants from the roots all over the place right through the strawberries, currants,raspberries etc a real PITA(the raspberries do a good job of crowding them out though,they sucker like crazy as well).

Your patch looks great,so neat for blackberries,are they naturally bred to be small plants and do they not sucker? Or are you just proper on top of the pruning and removing suckers?

Oh and I though I'd mention ALL of mine have bad ass thorns,some worse than others,the best fruit always seem to be hidden(dense bramble bushes create a micro climate)so you end up scratched up if you don't know what you are doing (acceptable hazard,grew up in foraging these so the idea of thornless blackberries is just a bit like,what? oh,ok,was that a problem that needed addressing?,didn't even cross my mind)

I'm on top of the pruning, haha. Limited each plant to 5-6 upward canes. Finally topped them and are letting the side shoots do their thing.

Definitely go thornless! The only way I'd ever go back to thorned varieties is if they tasted so much better.

That's funny that you're still waiting on the Triple Crown.  I picked my first ripe one about the first week in July and just cut out the old canes a few days ago.

I took a peek at your pictures.  How's the fruit looking on your Kadota now?

My Triple Crowns are late. First year plants and they took awhile to take off :/

My Kadota is still loaded! Got my first one last week (8/13). The rest should follow in the next month.

 

@Ross - that is one heck of a spreadsheet in your signature line

@sobelri

Ha, thanks!

Are those primacane or floracane? A cane borer wiped out a whole crop for me this year (Arapaho thornless).

Both primocanes. That's where the "Prime" in their name comes from.

In the first raspberry photo. Caroline is on the right.. Heritage on the left. They're supposedly very similar raspberries. Caroline only a week later than Heritage, but Caroline is leagues ahead in taste and size. Much sweeter, and probably the best raspberry I've tasted. I'd like to grow more varieties though to see if there's something better out there.

 
 

My Triple Crowns were loaded but finished in July.

This is a great variety. So far Caroline and Tulameen are my faves for the reds. Tulameen is a floracane variety though.
ries

• Raspberries
• Tulameen Raspberry [SPRING]

Tulameen Raspberry [SPRING]

($5.50/each; Pkg of 5 $20.00; Three or more Pkgs of 5 $16.50/each) This extraordinary introduction from British Columbia produces enormous, light red, aromatic fruit with a wonderful flavor. Besides berries that are 25% bigger than Meeker, Tulameen uniquely extends the summer raspberry season through July and August, producing for up to 50 days. It is a great find for backyard growers who can provide well drained soil. USDA Zones 6-9.

I tried Natchez blackberry in Dallas area and very satisfied.  Fruits are large and abundant.  No maintenance required besides making a trellis so canes can stay upright with fruits weight.  No insects or disease I have noticed.  Birds are a problem and I tried with net and have some success.  Natchez is selected as Texas Superstar.  I have Kiowa which has extremely large fruit - but sour.  Also has thorns which I donot like.  Besides these - I have Navajo - the fruits are small but sweet and produce late in the season.

I have Natchez, Navaho and Triple Crown. Here in East TN the Natchez were ripe first but not real sweet. The Navaho were next with nice sweet and flavorful berries....very abundant harvest. The Triple Crown was not as fruitful as the others but made up for it in size and taste.