Container Gardening Complete

Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete

700309 - ContainerGardens_001-272_FINAL.indd 108 5/24/17 11:12 AM
Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete
Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete

700309 - ContainerGardens_001-272_FINAL.indd 109 5/24/17 11:12 AM

108 chapter 2

Honeyberries

(Lonicera caerulea var. edulis)

Though this fruiting shrub isn’t widely grown

in North America, its popularity is on the rise.

Also known as blue honeysuckle, this lovely

shrub is a close relative of ornamental flowering

honeysuckle and produces white, tubular

flowers in very early spring that are followed by

oblong, blue fruits in late spring. Honeyberries

are the first fruits to ripen in my garden every

year, with a flavor reminiscent of a mixture of

cherries and grapes. My plants are 6 years old,

and they began to bear fruit in their 3rd year.

Once mature, honeyberry bushes continue to

bear fruit for 50 years. To improve pollination

rates, be sure to plant two or more varieties. Full-

grown honeyberry shrubs reach about 4 ft. in

height; they’re extremely hardy and can be grown

everywhere except in very hot southern regions.

Bramble Fruits

Brambles are plants that grow in a thorny thicket

of long stems. Though there are some uncommon

bramble fruits (including thimbleberry, dewberry,

nagoon berry, and salmonberry), there are two

brambles that are far more familiar to gardeners:

raspberries and blackberries. While in the past

these plants have not been good candidates for

container gardening due to their rambunctious

growth habits, times have changed. There are now

dwarf raspberry and blackberry varieties that

thrive in containers.

These fig trees are growing in 32-gallon trashcans

in the rooftop garden of Dinette Restaurant in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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Designing and Planting Your Containers 109

Raspberries (Rubus idaeus)

‘Shortcake’™ raspberries from Bushel and Berry®

are not only super cute, they’re also thornless

and very productive. Reaching only 3 ft. in height,

‘Shortcake’™ plants produce full-sized red

raspberries on short, stocky plants. They’re hardy

in the same regions as regular red raspberries

and have performed great in my own garden for

several years.

Blackberries (Rubus spp.

and hybrids)

Most blackberry varieties are vigorous growers,

with long, arching stems that outgrow a container

quickly. But ‘Baby Cakes’™ is a thornless dwarf

blackberry that reaches just 4 ft. in height. The

plants even produce two crops per season in most

regions. The berries are large, dark, and sweet.

Red raspberry ‘Shortcake’™ plants surround a dwarf apple tree in this 45-gallon fabric pot.

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