Black/raspberries tend to grow very quickly, I wouldn't waste your money on big plants.. Every year you cut the previous years canes off anyhow.. If you google/YouTube " pruning black/raspberries", or growing " blackberries" you will get a better understanding.. At my local hardware, they want $10 each.. Ingot them for $2-3 online nursery, and they weren't any smaller, not that matter to much.. You can get 4-5 plant for the price of one! Lookup some reputable online nurseries.. I got mine from burgess, but people will tell you you're nuts for buying from them, they have really bad reviews,etc! The plants I received were very good, for the most part...

Joe

Try Berries Unlimited if you want big plants, they sell 1-gallon plants. I have been very happy with them. Or Edible Landscaping right there in Virginia, they have lots of sizes.

Scott

Everyone talks about berriesunlimited, they are even rated top 5 for reviews! They seem very good.. But I am always putvoff by prices.. I could get the same gallon plant local for $5, they want $15.. But they do have good selection! Plus, you probably get what you pay for! Once you buy a plant, you will have it forever.. Maybe I'll even buy some plants from unlimited..

Thanks,
Joe

Year 1: None or a handful
Year2: Enough for a pie or two
Year3: Eat lots of berries!

Joe, I think Berries Unlimited is a pretty awesome place, I could not believe how much roots I got on the plants from them. If you think of the price per pound of roots they are the best deal out there.

ltbee, nobody answered your question about varieties. Triple Crown is considered the best. Several of the Indian named varieties are also very good; I don't grow them so I forget which ones. If you call up the folks at Edible Landscaping they may be able to help you. Depending on where in Virginia you are you may even be able to drive to their nursery.

Scott

I bought quite a few of my cane berries as bare root plants from Indiana Berry in 2011, and I was very happy with the quality, price, and size. I had a small fall crop on the Caroline and Autumn Bliss primocane varieties, but, by and large, everything else has followed larry_gene's timeline.

One standout has been Shawnee, one of the Indian named varieties that Scott mentioned. I had a small but deliciously sweet crop last spring, and I'm looking forward to a much larger crop this spring. The flavor really stood out in comparison to my Chester and Prime Jim blackberries, and it's proven to be very vigorous in spite of cane borer damage and bears early in the season. I also got a few berries from my newly planted Apache blackberries last year. They were quite good, as well, but I'd still give the edge to Shawnee. Because the Apaches fruited later, I noticed a fair amount of white drupelets -- presumably from sun damage.

I just received three raspberries, and a currant from Indiana Berry, and the raspberries are huge, single cane over pencil size, ton's of roots, and were only $3.25 and $3.00. The currant was a little small, but I didn't expect a giant plant anyway. So great price, large size, if you need to pinch pennies, this is your company. All were bare root and dormant. Packaged extremely well. This company is awesome to say the least! I would order from them with pleasure any day.
The next day I received one bare root from American Meadows. The raspberry was small, not packaged well at all, and dried out. It may not make it? Have you seen the raspberry packaging at Home Depot, well it was like that, unsealed, dry, and put in a box too small, so the cane was bent and broke a few inches above dirt. It was not damaged in shipping, it was damaged putting it in the too small box! Idiots! I know this will not hurt the plant at all, but it just goes to show how this company could give a rip. Avoid them like the plague! Four times the cost too! The only place I could find that had Kiwi Gold. A shame because this is an excellent cultivar. It has lost favor for whatever reason?
Looking for Valentina. Willing to trade suckers. I have many cultivars here. All the gold ones I could find. Cascade Gold, Honey Queen, Fall Gold, Double Gold, Kiwi Gold (if it makes it?), and Anne.

Scott:

I might have to give them a shot, thanks my friend! You wouldn't believe the roots i received from burgess, I couldn't believe everyone was giving them such bad reviews! I guess I'm the lucky one!

Joe

Their are a ton of good very varieties that i Just cant get locally. I planted half a dozen varietes and will be condensing to the few that i really like with maybe a few new test cases. But to get back to the thread topic. If you want blackberries, they come in so many varieties it isnt even funny. Erect, Semi-erect, Trailing. then which ones are zone appropriate. As well as hybrids. which i tend to like the best. Ill give you a quick rundown of my favorite varieties.

Erect Chickasaw. Big Size/ good taste/vigorous
Hybrid Boysen Fantastic taste, vigorous (thorny)
Trailing Triple Crown Big berries 10 foot canes easy
*Trailing(chester) Hardiest of the thornless that i have
good for jams/wines etc...

I have both Prime Jan and Prime Ark. they are both in their third years and i will probably be replacing them with either boysenberries or triplecrowns.

Full production on berries with care usually appear about year 3. Plan on making some wine this year have to see how it turns out.