Boysenberry Plants
Rudy’s Original® boysenberry plants are grown at Boysen Berry Farm from original boysenberry vines cared for and kept in the Boysen family for over 100 years.
Bare-root plants will be available for purchase online in late February. They go very fast, so get your order in as soon possible.
Potted plants will be available at our farm during our U-Pick season, late May through early June.
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Seasonal Availability - Bare-Root and Potted
Bare-Root Boysenberry Plant
Three Packs Rudy’s Original® Bare-Root Boysenberry Plants. Available late February through March until sold out.
Potted Boysenberry Plant
Gallon size potted Rudy’s Original® Boysenberry Plants. ONLY AVAILABLE AT OUR FARM, Late May through early June until sold out.
Rudy's Original® Boysenberry Plant Characteristics
- Bloom Color: White
- Fruit Color: Dark Purple
- Fruit Size: Extra Large
- Ripens / Harvest: Mid-May through June
- Growing Zone: 7 – 10
- Pollination: Self Pollinating
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Years to Bear: Begins Bearing in the Second Year
- Sun: Full Sun
- Ideal Soil: Sandy Clay Loam
- Soil Moisture: Well Drained /Average Moistness
- Soil pH: 5.8 – 6.5
- Growth habit: Vine with Trailing Canes 5’-15’ Long
- Height: 5-6 feet
- Spread: 5-6 feet
- Spacing: Plant 5-6 feet apart
- Best time to plant bare-root boysenberries: January – April
- Best time to plant potted boysenberries: April – June
Planting and Care of Boysenberry Plants
Here’s a list of things you’ll need to plant your bare-root boysenberries:
- Shovel
- Small hand trowel
- Large bag or two of compost
- Large bag of mulch
- Water source: garden hose, bucket, etc.
- Gardening gloves
The best time to plant boysenberry plants is before the heat of the summer. You can plant your bare-root and potted boysenberry plants as soon as you purchase them, however we recommend some preparation before you get started.
How We Start Our Plants For You
We start our plants the old fashioned way. No gene splicing, no crispr, no test-tube babies. Each plant begins by placing the tip of a growing boysenberry cane into a few inches of soil during early to late fall. Each tip-start remains connected to the “mother vine” and receives the nourishment it needs to develop its own root system.
By early February, a small root ball has formed underground at the tip of the cane. These tip-starts are carefully removed from the soil and inspected. We select only those with healthy white cane-buds above white rootlets. Then a short length of the cane along with it’s roots are cut from the mother vine to birth a Rudy’s Original® boysenberry plant.
Boysenberry Heritage
Rudy Boysen was my grandfather. He loved cross pollinating berry vines and through his efforts, created a berry that was eventually named the Boysenberry.
Researchers at USDA Corvallis have confirmed that Boysen Berry Farm grows the original boysenberry and, “The pedigree of ‘Boysen’ is ‘Logan’ x ‘Austin Mayes’ ” (Hummer et al., 2019). Austin Mayes is a variety of trailing blackberry. Read more: Will the Real ‘Boysen’ Please Stand Up? The Bramble: Newsletter of The North American Raspberry & Blackberry Association, 34(2), summer 2019