Bushel and Berry® Baby Cakes Blackberry® Bush

Sugary and Sweet- Packed with Flavor!

With its delicious taste and tantalizing aroma, this is sure to become one of your favorite blackberry bushes to grow!

• The sweetest blackberry you can grow!
• Almost no thorns... no pricking your fingers
• Enjoy multiple harvests of berries each year
• Perfect when grown on your patio

Large and Luscious Blackberries Ready to Harvest in July
That's what you'll get from your new Baby Cakes plant - a taste sensation that's wrapped in a large package and tied with a bow of sweetness. After eating only one berry, you'll wish you'd ordered more than one plant! These berries are full-sized, even though they grow on dwarf plants.

There are Practically No Thorns!
Yes, you read it right - there are basically no thorns on this revolutionary blackberry plant. You'll see pretty smooth canes, and your hands and arms will thank you! The presence of thorns is perhaps the primary reason that keeps people from picking blackberries, but Baby Cakes solves this problem in a big way. Oh sure, you can sometimes buy blackberries at your supermarket, but they do not compare in flavor or texture with fresh-picked berries. Why not simply stay scratch-free and harvest blackberries from your own thornless Baby Cakes Blackberry plant?

Picking blackberries can be a hazardous undertaking as you carefully reach through the sharp thorns to pluck the berries. If you protect yourself by wearing long sleeves and gloves, you'll quickly discover that it's hard to pick blackberries while wearing bulky gloves. Your fun outing to gather blackberries ends up giving you more painful scratches on your hands and arms than sweet berries in your basket. It's time to ditch the long sleeves and toss the gloves because we have a safer solution - thornless Baby Cakes.

Not One, But Two Harvests Each Year
In most regions, Baby Cakes plants produce two harvests each year. Get ready for a midsummer treat when the first fruits ripen. And then wait for the encore - another crop that begins ripening in mid-autumn for a late-season finish!

An Ultimate Container Plant
You may not have considered growing a fruiting plant in a patio pot, but Baby Cakes will change your mind. Choose a large pot - 24 to 36 inches in diameter - to give your plant plenty of growing room.

A Charming Fruiting Hedge
Plant a row of Baby Cakes plants for an instant fruiting hedge! This hedge can define your property lines by forming a living fence.

Won Best in Show at the 2016 Farwest New Varieties Showcase
You don't have to take our word for applauding this plant. When Baby Cakes Blackberry® made its debut into the horticultural world, it earned the top judge's award - Best in Show - at the 2016 Farwest New Varieties Showcase, an event produced by the Oregon Association of Nurseries. After competing against 55 plant competitors in five categories (trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, and vines), Baby Cakes Blackberry was the hands-down winner.

Selective Breeding with No Genetic Modification
Baby Cakes Blackberry®is a result of the University of Arkansas blackberry breeding program, which was founded in 1964 by Dr. James N. Moore. It's important to note that the plants produced by this breeding program have not been genetically modified. They are all results of selective breeding by naturally crossing different types of blackberry plants.

Baby Cakes Can Produce an Abundance of Fruit Alone and has A Low Chill Hour Requirement Excellent for Growing in Zones 4 Through 8
Then you'll definitely want to order Baby Cakes! Some fruiting plants, such as many types of apples, can only set fruit in climates with long, cold winters and a high number of "chill hours. This designation represents the number of annual hours that register below 45 degrees F. Baby Cakes has a low chill-hour requirement - only 400. So even if you live in a warm climate within Baby Cakes's perennial range across USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 4 through 8, you can grow this outstanding fruiting plant!

Health and Nutritional Benefits of Blackberries
Did you know that blackberries have one of the highest-tested antioxidant levels among fruits because of their dark color? These all-important antioxidants help fight cell damage in the human body, and they are measured as ORAC values (Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity). Oregon State University notes that blackberries have a higher ORAC value than blueberries! Blackberries are also fiber-rich, packed with Vitamin C, and they contain natural compounds that have anti-cancer, anti-bacterial, and antiviral qualities!

Let's Start Planting
• Find a sunny site. Blackberry plants need lots of full sun to maximize their fruiting potential.

• Good drainage. Your Baby Cakes plants won't like to sit in soggy soils, which can cause their root systems to rot. Plant where the soil drains well - in an area that doesn't still hold standing water several hours after it rains. Consider planting in raised beds or large pots to provide excellent drainage.

• Water. You'll water new plants more during their first year of growth until they become established. Remember that moist soil is good; waterlogged soil is not. If you're growing Baby Cakes plants in large pots, the soil will dry faster, so you may need to water container plants two or three times each week during hot summer months.

• Soil pH. An ideal soil pH is 5.5 to 6.5, the range in which Baby Cakes plants grow best.

• Fertilizer. Take a soil sample to your local Cooperative Extension Service for evaluation. They'll give fertilizer recommendations based on the soil-test results. In the absence of a soil test, a general rule of thumb is to apply a balanced fertilizer, such as 10-20-10 (or an organic equivalent) after your plants show new growth. Don't add fertilizer to the planting hole; wait until the plants begin growing to fertilize them.

• No trellising or staking. Other types of blackberry plants require support to keep their canes off the ground and the berries from spoiling. But because Baby Cakes plants are upright growers, you do not have to install stakes or construct a trellis system to support their growth.

Easy Pruning Guidelines
Don't worry; you don't have to be a pruning expert to keep your Baby Cakes plants tidy! But with a few pruning tips, you'll make sure that your plants continue to be prolific producers.

• Don't prune plants the first year you plant them.
• Let your plants go dormant in winter without pruning them.
• In spring, you'll see new green sprouts emerging from the soil around your plant - these will bear fruit the following year, so don't cut them back.
• You'll also see new green growth sprouting on some of the canes - these will bear fruit in the current year, so don't cut them back.
• You may see some canes that are not sprouting new growth - remove these by cutting them all the way back to the ground.
That's it - you'll prune only once a year by making a few cuts for abundant harvests of blackberries!

Freezing Tips
Fresh is always best, but you can always freeze a surplus of berries by using either of these methods:

1. Freeze berries in a single layer on a cookie sheet, and then pack the berries in a plastic freezer container or plastic freezer bag. Seal the container and freeze.
2. Make a simple sugar syrup by dissolving 2 cups of sugar in 4 cups of water. Fill a plastic freezer container with fresh blackberries, and pour the syrup over the berries. Seal the container and freeze.