Thornless blackberry varieties, early and late picks

Updated on 22 September 2026Published on 7 March 2022

Blackberry is one of the most prized berries for jams. Thornless varieties make the pleasure even more appealing! Here are the most common thornless blackberry varieties you’re likely to find, and how to plant them.

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Thornless blackberry varieties

Early blackberries, perfect for the beginning of the season

‘Arapaho’ blackberry: one of the earliest. Grows upright, which means you don’t need much staking. Its fruits are quite large for blackberries, from 1 to nearly 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm).
‘Freedom’ blackberry: starts flowering early on in spring. Canes from the previous year bloom early, meaning you get berries early June. A second wave is harvestable in July on canes that grew that same spring.
‘Apache’: blooming begins early in summer, and continues as long as the weather permits. First fruits appear around the middle of June.

Late thornless blackberry, wrapping up the summer

Flower of a thornless blackberry variety without a thorn in sight! — ‘Navaho’ was among the first thornless varieties discovered

‘Navaho’: actually among the first thornless varieties discovered. Not so sweet, but very tasty flavor. Grows stiff, upright stems, so only minimal staking is required.
‘Chester’: grows shorter than other thornless varieties. Berries appear in August.
‘Triple Crown’: Early August is when these fruits appear. The large berries get sweeter and sweeter until fully ripe.

Which thornless blackberry to choose?

The six thornless varieties described above differ mostly in when they crop and in how much support they need. Here they are side by side, from the earliest to those that close the season.

Which thornless blackberry to choose?
Variety	Harvest	What sets it apart
‘Arapaho’	Early summer, among the earliest	Upright canes need little staking; large berries, 1 to nearly 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm)
‘Freedom’	Early summer, then a second wave in midsummer	Flowers early in spring on last year’s canes, then crops again on canes grown that same spring
‘Apache’	From early summer onwards	Blooms from the start of summer and keeps going as long as the weather permits
‘Navaho’	Late summer	One of the first thornless varieties found; stiff upright stems, tasty though not very sweet
‘Chester’	Late summer	The most compact of the thornless varieties
‘Triple Crown’	Late summer	Large berries that keep sweetening until fully ripe

Pairing an early variety with a late one stretches the thornless picking from the start of summer to its very end.

Doing away with thorns!

How did thornless blackberry appear?

New varieties appear everytime cross-pollination occurs. Professional growers, and occasionally amateurs who are patient enough to experiment, identify new cultivars with new traits. Sometimes fruits are larger, smaller, sweeter, tarter… or the plant is more able to resist this or that disease.

Whenever a blackberry specimen appears that doesn’t have any thorns, it’s an interesting discovery! Growers then describe the plant in a plant patent, and start propagating it through cloning. Cloning, in most cases, is simply preparing cuttings so that child plants are identical to the mother plant.

Are thornless blackberries better?

For harvesting, definitely! No more tears, and if you wear gloves, it’s only to avoid getting hard-to-remove stains on your fingers. However, some say that thornless berries have less taste. In some cases, they’re sweeter, but the sweetness is simply increased sugar; the flavor lacks in complexity and depth.

What is your experience?

Frequently Asked Questions

Are thornless blackberries less tasty than thorny ones?

For picking they win hands down, but taste is debated. Some growers find thornless berries have less taste, and where they are sweeter it is simply more sugar rather than more flavour. ‘Navaho’, for instance, is described as not so sweet yet very tasty, so complexity and sweetness are not the same thing.

When do thornless blackberries ripen?

It depends entirely on the variety. Early ones such as ‘Arapaho’, ‘Freedom’ and ‘Apache’ start cropping in early summer, and ‘Freedom’ even gives a second wave in midsummer on the canes grown that spring. Late varieties such as ‘Chester’ and ‘Triple Crown’ take over in late summer, their large berries sweetening right up to full ripeness.

Do thornless blackberries need staking?

Much less than you might expect, at least with the upright types. ‘Arapaho’ grows upright, so you don’t need much staking, and ‘Navaho’ makes stiff, upright stems that need only minimal support. ‘Chester’ also stays shorter than other thornless varieties, which keeps it easy to manage.

How were thornless blackberries obtained?

New varieties turn up whenever cross-pollination occurs, and growers — professionals or patient amateurs — spot the seedlings carrying new traits. When a specimen appears without any thorns, it is described in a plant patent and then multiplied by cloning. In most cases that simply means taking cuttings, so every child plant is identical to the mother plant.

Image credits (edits Gaspard Lorthiois):
CC BY 2.0: Bob
CC BY-SA 2.0: Carol Jacobs-Carre

Written by Gaspard Lorthiois | Loves helping out, especially when it comes to growing things. Worked in herbal medicine, runs a farm, and dabbles in tech. Master's degree and engineer.

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