Blackberry · Taiyuan, Shanxi, China
When to plant blackberries in Taiyuan
Main outdoor window
12 Oct - 10 Apr
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
24 April
In Taiyuan, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 Aug - 30 Sep
If you plant at the start of the window.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in Taiyuan
Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.
Plant canes
12 Oct - 10 Apr
Any time the plant is dormant and the ground is neither frozen nor waterlogged: after leaf fall in autumn, or at the end of winter before growth restarts.
Harvest
1 Aug - 30 Sep
Blackberries through the year
Against the frost risk in Taiyuan
Why these dates
Hardy in cane and root. Cultivated thornless varieties are slightly more tender than wild brambles but still come through most winters untouched.
Blackberries are planted once and then left in place, so there is no sowing offset to resolve. What matters in Taiyuan is the shape of the year: this crop is dormant through the winter and is planted while it sleeps, any time between leaf fall in autumn and the restart of growth in spring, so long as the ground is neither frozen nor waterlogged. That is why the window below spans the cold months rather than sitting in the middle of the growing season.
Hardiness is not the obstacle here. Taiyuan is zone 6a, comfortably inside the range this crop is rated for, so an established plant should come through an average winter without protection.
Do not expect a crop in the first year. A plant set out now should give its first worthwhile pick around year 2, and will then produce every year after that, which is what makes the planting decision worth getting right the first time.
Also in Taiyuan
Other fruits to time
Growing blackberries in Taiyuan
When should I plant blackberries in Taiyuan?
Aim for 12 Oct - 10 Apr in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 2 Oct - 26 Apr - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will blackberries be ready to harvest in Taiyuan?
Expect to start picking around 1 Aug - 30 Sep, based on 55 to 75 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will blackberries tolerate?
Hardy in cane and root. Cultivated thornless varieties are slightly more tender than wild brambles but still come through most winters untouched.