Rubus fruticosus agg. 'Reuben'PBR (B)

RHS Plant Profile
blackberry 'Reuben'

Save a plant

Where do you want to save Rubus fruticosus agg. 'Reuben'PBR (B)?

Plants I own
Wishlist
Go to My Plants

Synonyms

Rubus 'Reuben'

Plants for pollinators
Shrubs Fruit Edible
Buy this from Plant Nurseries
8 Suppliers

'Reuben' is a late primocane blackberry, fruiting on canes in the first year and produces large, 11g sweet black fruit in late summer on compact thorny canes. The fruit are of moderate flavour and are suitable for desserts and cooking

Position

Full sun

Soil Types

Clay, Loam, Sand

Max Height

1.5-2.5 metres

Max Spread

1-1.5 metres

Size

Time to Maturity
2–5 years
Max Spread
1-1.5 metres
Max Height
1.5-2.5 metres

Growing Conditions

Clay Loam Sand
Moisture
Moist but well–drained
pH
Neutral

Position

Full sun
Aspect
South–facing or West–facing
Exposure
Exposed
Hardiness

Hardiness Ratings

All ratings refer to the UK growing conditions unless otherwise stated. Minimum temperature ranges (in degrees C) are shown in brackets

  • H1A: under glass all year (>15C)
  • H1B: can be grown outside in the summer (10 - 15)
  • H1C: can be grown outside in the summer (5 - 10)
  • H2: tolerant of low temperatures, but not surviving being frozen (1 to 5)
  • H3: hardy in coastal and relatively mild parts of the UK (-5 to 1)
  • H4: hardy through most of the UK (-10 to -5)
  • H5: hardy in most places throughout the UK even in severe winters (-15 to -10)
  • H6: hardy in all of UK and northern Europe (-20 to -15)
  • H7: hardy in the severest European continental climates (< -20)
H6

Colour & Scent

Season Stem Flower Foliage Fruit
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Botanical Details

Family
Rosaceae
Native to GB/Ireland
No
Foliage
Deciduous
Habit
Trailing
Genus
Rubus can be deciduous or evergreen shrubs, often scrambling with bristly or prickly stems bearing simple, lobed, palmate or pinnate leaves and 5-petalled flowers followed by juicy, sometimes edible fruits
Name Status
Accepted
Horticultural Group

Horticultural Classification Codes

Horticultural Classification Codes are often given to genera which have a large number of species or cultivars. They are used to categorise cultivated plants based on specific, shared characteristics such as shape, colour, size or flowering time, and can be displayed as letters or numbers

For example:
Dahlia ‘Sunset Kate (Sin) = Single flower
Rosa ‘Marigold’ (HT) = Hybrid Tea

This genus produces blackberries

How to Grow

Cultivation

Can be fan trained and tolerates most soils but does best in neutral or slightly acid soils, but sun to flower and fruit well. Since this is a late flowering blackberry it needs a warm, late sunny summer for the fruit to ripen well. Mulch with well-rotted compost. May have the potential to become a nuisance if not managed well. See blackberry cultivation for further advice

Propagation

Propagate by layering or by cuttings

Suggested planting locations and garden types

  • Cottage and informal garden
  • Wildlife gardens
  • Edible fruit
  • Wall side borders

Pruning

Cut out old canes following fruiting and tie in new canes; see pruning blackberries

Pests

May be susceptible to aphids, leafhoppers, raspberry beetle and gall mites

Diseases

May be susceptible to grey moulds and honey fungus (rarely)