Southern Californians look forward to summer when the sweet berries ripen. Los Angeles Name tells more about the most popular varieties and shares tips on growing them.
Popular berries in Southern California
Before choosing a variety, the locals take into account how much space they can allocate for cultivation. The next step is to buy a rack or wheel support or to make them by yourself. The following berries are most popular in the region.
- Blackberry. This berry is easiest to grow here because of its heat tolerance. When choosing a variety of berries at your local garden center, you should also ask about the specifics of cultivation, if this is not indicated on the label.
- Blueberry. These berries make a fantastic addition to local gardens. Not only the berries are of interest but also the leaves, which change color from green to red in autumn. Gardening experts advise planting two types of blueberries at once to extend the harvest period. Such advice will help to increase the amount of harvest. In addition, in special greenhouses, locals grow southern highbush blueberries, which are able to comfortably tolerate mild winters. According to locals, such berries are the tastiest.
- Raspberry. Growing such berries is relatively simple and does not require a lot of pruning or trimming. More and more townspeople decide to grow berries as annual plants on their own because their shelf life is extremely short. The list of raspberries that can be grown is quite large. Among the red species, there are summer and autumn varieties. Raspberry bushes require enough sun and regular watering.
- Strawberries are grown in spring because it is believed to be the best time for this. Local gardeners can offer several varieties to choose from, such as June strawberry (it gives the biggest harvest), Alpine (it has small fruits) and day-neutral type (it produces a large number of fruits during the year).
- Goji berries have been trendy in recent years. They come from Tibet but are quite resistant to drought, which is typical for local gardens. You can enjoy delicious fruits already next year after planting. It is important to prune new bushes.
Boysenberries
It is a variety that was grown in Southern California by crossing raspberries, blueberries and blackberries. Walter Knott managed to reproduce the berry and named it after the developer creator, Rudolph Boysen. Such berries can ripen in a year after planting.
This is a delicious reddish-purple berry, bred in the 1920s. The peculiarity of the berry is that the fruits grow only on the part of the bush that grew last year. After harvesting, the berries can be stored for about three days.
Boysenberries can be found at the farmer’s market, as well as in supermarkets. Talking about the Boysenberry business, the owners managed to ensure that the taste of berries pleased the townspeople for more than a few days. In an interview, the owner Mike said that love for work is necessary to get fruits. It’s nothing more than a California classic.
Useful tips
Growing berries yourself is a real hobby for many residents of Los Angeles, mostly from Southern California. Here are some useful tips for them:
- one can use a special net to protect plants
- it is necessary to harvest in time when the color of the fruits has changed from green to uniformly bright
- it is best to harvest in the morning because at this time, according to gardeners, the berries are the sweetest. If it is not possible, do this in the evening after sunset.
Growing any berry requires work and proper care but the main reward will be a tasty and generous harvest.
