Rubus armeniacus … Himalayan blackberry … the very spawn of Satan himself … the kind of plant that plant-haters love to hate on. You know it’s pure evil when a plant thrives on being soaked in Round-Up twice a week, even fleeceflower will die after a year or so of such treatment. They attract the worst kinds of wildlife; bluejays, skunks and humans.
I’m sick of getting raked to bloodly shreads, I’m sick of purple bird shit on my rig, I’m sick of their constant plotting to kill me. They infest everything; roads, rain gutters, amphitheaters, bedroom carpets. I do NOT like blackberries. Go ahead and eat them and see how many sprouts come out the other end, ripping and tearing their way to freedom.
Digging them up by the roots and laying them out in the sun to die a slow horrible death is too good for them.
Actually, I looked again yesterday. The blindweeds are the ones on the fence by the telephone pole. The sweet peas are the ones that keep trying to strangle the rosemary plants.
Ok, so I have spent the week spreading around my newly acquired knowledge of the difference between true Blackberries and what I have been giving them pints of, for the past few years, actually Black Raspberries.
But why aren’t there any in the market, for me to buy? Is always the next question, it seems. To which I don’t really have a good answer beyond that they don’t seem to be cultivated and are both wild and native.
I am surprised to see that this info seems to make my berries more attractive to them, not less!
In fact, a friend is currently making jam with them, as I write this.
As someone who does a fair bit of backcountry hiking, I have a love hate thing with blackberries. Thorns and impenetrable masses of vines are the hate part, but handfuls of sweet deliciousness as I hike are the love.
Being able to pick them and eat them as I keep moving means I’m getting calories and satisfying my hunger without having to add weight to my pack. The love part wins out!
A few years ago I volunteered at a public garden tending to the roses. Though most of the roses were in their own beds, there were a few mixed in with the iris bed across the walkway. The bindweed thought that iris bed was the best ever place to grow and it did so with great abandon. One time I decided to tear out some of it and it came away from the ground in huge mats. But I had 80-some rose bushes to deal with and I didn’t have time to dig out the tubers, so it quickly bounced back.
Bindweed is a pretty plant. Too bad it isn’t more manageable.
it is morning glory, just the wild version that hasn’t been selectively bred. It can cross breed with the ornamental ones, which are also pretty hard to control.
Anyone selling raspberry plants will likely sell them in red, black, and gold. And black raspberry used to be a common ice cream flavor when I was a kid. I guess I can’t recall seeing baskets of the fresh berries for sale, note that you mention it.