Trailing Blackberry (Rubus ursinus)
The only blackberry plant native to Washington, Trailing blackberry (Rubus ursinus) is pleasant, delicious, and ecologically-friendly, making it the optimal choice for any berry-lover’s outdoor space.
A tame version of its invasive sister Himalayan blackberry, Trailing blackberry’s dainty mint or red-colored vines won’t overtake your yard and outcompete other landscaping. Instead, this variety of blackberry will offer berries whose sweetness has been noted as culinary favorite, and the best ingredient for blackberry jam, pie and cocktail syrup.
Like other native plants, Trailing blackberry is distinguished by its durable and resilient qualities as well as its compatibility with local flora and fauna. It is classified as a low growing, trailing, or climbing evergreen shrub, making it the ideal ground cover plant suitable to the tastes of humans and wildlife.
You might want to try this recipe for pie:
Blackberry Pie
Standard pie crust (from scratch or store-bought)
1 blackberries (trailing blackberries preferred)
2.5 tablespoons tapioca
1 cup sugar (more if you have a sweet tooth)Preheat oven to 400°F. Roll out pie crust. Place crust in pan. Mix berries, tapioca and sugar, place in pie shell, then cover with the top pie crust and seal around the edges of the pan. With a knife, cut a few vents in the top crust. Place pie pan on a cookie sheet (to prevent overflowing onto bottom of oven). Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350°F and bake for an additional 40 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool before serving
The best of its kind, make sure to pick up some Trailing blackberry at this year’s native plant sale.
Chloe Steffes, 2023-2024 AmeriCorps Education Specialist
Sources:
King County
The Seattle Times
Recipe Credit: Adapted from Hope Hughes recipe in The Pacific Northwest Berry Book by Bob Krumm and James Krumm
Featured Photo Credit: CAJC, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons