Saturday, February 25, 2012

Canada Red Rhubarb and Cheyenne Blackberries

Photo from degroot-inc.com
We purchased two rhubarb starts today.  The Canada Red variety is cold weather resistant and suitable for our location in Michigan.  It will be a while before the ground warms enough for planting, but I couldn't resist the purchase because some suppliers are already out of supply for the 2012 growing season.   

My grandmother had a lot of rhubarb in her garden and used it in pie making.  As I recall she would freeze it and then make pies from it later in the year when apples, blackberries, gooseberries, and strawberries were out of season.

I purchased the rhubarb from De Groot Inc. out of Coloma, Michigan.  They have a large display at the local Meijer store. Contact information for the company is included below:

De Groot, Inc.
P.O. Box 934
Coloma, Michigan 49038

Phone:  1-800-253-2876

Fax:  1-269-468-6717


The rhubarb description at http://www.degroot-inc.com/ explains that one rhubarb plant is enough for several pies.  When we lived in Florida we had to settle for pies made from frozen rhubarb, since it doesn't grow well in extreme heat.  Linda has purchased it locally at the grocery store and the clerk didn't even know what it was.  I am looking foward to growing my own.  A fresh baked rhubarb pie coupled with a few scoops of vanilla ice cream is hard to beat.

Photo from degroot-inc.com
We also picked up some Cheyenne variety blackberry shrubs. The Cheyenne variety are not thornless, but they are more resistant to the colder temperatures we get here in Southeastern Michigan.  Blackberries are another fruit that are excellent for pie baking, but I like them fresh from the vine too.

I tried to grow blackberries in containers when we lived in Florida. I went through five different plants before I finally had to throw in the towel on the effort.  This time I'll plant them directly in the ground and top dress with compost on a regular basis.

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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 13, 2012 at 11:07 AM

    Please let us know how your 'Canada Red' Rhubarb and 'Cheyenne' Blackberries plants are growing?

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  2. Backyard Urban GardeningMarch 13, 2012 at 4:12 PM

    We jumped the gun a little bit on purchasing the rhubarb and blackberries.

    It was still a little on the chilly side that last week of February, so we couldn't plant them outside immediately. Last weekend we transplanted the rhubarb plants into a container. I'm afraid we probably lost one of the rhubarb plants, but the other has taken off. It looks like we'll be making a trip back to Mejier this weekend to purchase another rhubarb transplant.

    We will be transplanting the blackberries this weekend. I've got my fingers crossed.

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    Replies
    1. AnonymousMarch 2, 2013 at 3:26 PM

      I just planted 2 roots of rhubarb and 3 roots of blackberries. I put the berries where they will get some shade from the Florida sun. they grew wild in the woods in Illinois so it sounded sensible they like hot and shady. we'll see how it works out. for my above ground garden I am using a child swimming pool. last year my tomato and pepper seemed to like the idea. I don't grow much but added squash this year.

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