WOW! ... now, that's very productive! Would be great to give it a try. A friend had told me about 'Lowden's Black' raspberry being very hardy, large fruited and delicious, though I've been unable to track it down :(

I'm sure others here will give you all sorts of ideas as to fruit varieties capable of surviving the chinook belt.

Terry

Kathleen, I'm in the chinook belt, and grow lots of fruit. Saskatoons do well here. Mine are Smoky, I think. I have strawberries, raspberries, currants, Evans cherries, the Romance series cherries (University of Saskatchewan), apples, Nanking cherries, Haskap, and sea buckthorn. I'm planning on adding plums and pears. Those blackberries are really tempting. My sister in Nova Scotia has blackberries, and the jelly is always wonderful.
Check out the DNA gardens website for the names of some good, hardy fruit cultivars.

Connie

Hi, I'm in the chinook belt in Alberta, I have apples, raspberries (all kinds), strawberries (all kinds, I cover them with leaves in the fall), I have three plums (pembina, and bounty) and I just planted Evan's cherry, passion cherry and cupid cherry last fall. I checked into the blackberry and it is only $10.00 for shipping so I might give it a try. does anyone else have blackberries? Check some of the other posts on this forum, there was a lot for hardy fruit.

Great to meet some other chinook belt gardeners! I am just south of the border and where we used to live, were just 11 miles from the border. Regina was the nearest large city. I am excited to read about winter sowing too, will have to give that a try. I tried ordering the Doyle last night but my order wouldn't go through. I'll have to find a phone number. I did also order honey berries. We have heavy clay soil and horrible wind up on the hill where I live, not exactly gardener's paradise. I tried one garden here a few years ago and it was a failuer, but this year I plan to conquer. I have added lots of hay and grass clippings to the soil and so that is better. Just have to find a way to conquer the earwigs, nasty creatures.

So...did any of you got hold of the Doyles?
And how did they perform for zone 3?

This could solve my dilemma about getting haskaps for a hedge. I love blackberries.

Pretty mixed reviews on the Doyles. Some people love them, some hate them. Can't post the link here as GardenWeb won't allow it, says they have gotten too much spam from the site where I read the review.

I've grown Chester Thornless in zone 3 for the past 4 years and they are heavy producers but require a lot of winter protection as I think they are really rated for zone 6.

{{gwi:734220}}

Too bad, not much is said with Doyles in Canada but most
reviews in US looks good.

But again, good snow cover is needed for plants to survive above ground, ...or you make a HUGE effort and insulate with other means.

We had good snow fall this winter and all should look good for survival.

Just remember..
maybe not for mine, because I have chester growing on south facing hill where snow is scares and melts so quickly to the ground.

I think i'll skip it too lazy to cover and protect each year. One of the reviews I read had -10 as coldest temp and they had problems. But most of the other problems I read had to do with over heating (definitely not a problem here) and or the company running out of plants. It was worth looking into though I have friends that live in warmer zones that might like them. Thanks for bumping up this thread