Subject: Allfieldberry, Rubus arcticus X R. stellatus
From: [email-masked] (Cecilia Henningsson)
Date: Tue, 15 Jun 1993 16:46:25 GMT

I promised to get back to the rec.gardens readers with more info about
the allfieldberry, a rather recently introduced berry. Here is what my
gardening manual says about it:

The allfieldberry is a hybrid between the nordic fieldberry, Rubus
arcticus, and Rubus stellatus from Alaska. The flavour of the berries
resembles that of fieldberries and they have the same uses. They are,
however, somewhat bigger, and crop much heavier. Plant the
allfieldberry during spring in a somewhat sandy and humusrich soil
with a low soil-pH. Mix in limefree peat if available.

The allfieldberry displays a matforming growth habit. The plant covers
the ground well and should prove to be an excellent ground cover plant
for open soil on for instance slopes. To get a dense cover right from
the start, you should plant the little bushes fairly close together,
30x30 cm would be okay for soils with a normal nutritional content.

Varieties: The first two varieties of allfieldberry on the market were
_Anna_, which has very big berries, and _Linda_ with somewhat smaller
and darker, darkred berries. The two varieties have to be planted
together, as they are self-sterile.

So far the manual (_Traedgaardspraktika_ by Lars-Eric Samuelsson and
Ulf Schenkmanis, copyright 1988, published by Carlsson Bokfoerlag, my
own translation, copied here without permission).

If you are interested in buying allfieldberries, try first at your
local nursery, but don't be surprised if they've never even heard
about them. Two companies which should have them are Richters in
Canada and Chris Bower in Great Britain. They might also be able to
give you a pointer to a source closer to you.

Chris Bowers (Dept TG3), Whispering Trees Nursery, Wimbotsham, Norfolk
PE34 8QB, Great Britain. Access/Visa welcome, catalogue 2 GBP.

Richters in Canada have an e-mail address:
[email-masked]. 

If you buy allfieldberries, please tell us about your experiences with
them! 
--Ceci

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