I have proclaimed that June is Blackberry Month in Arkansas and today I’d like to talk about a crowning blackberry achievement at the University of Arkansas’s Fruit Research Station in Clarksville.
Dr. John Clark, a University of Arkansas Distinguished Professor of Horticulture who leads the team there, is a celebrity in the world of fruit production. Blackberries are his favorite. He has spent his career producing better blackberries, such as the thornless Prime Ark Traveler, which is easy on pickers’ hands.
Blackberries aren’t the only crop at the station, where the team also grows peaches, nectarines, blueberries, and grapes, among other fruit. The station bred the Cotton Candy grape, which sells all over the world.
Dr. Clark and Dr. Margaret Worthington, who are co-leaders of the fruit-breeding effort, want thornless plants and pretty blackberries that taste better, stay firm, and resist disease. Last year, the team introduced a variety that is a milestone in the world of blackberries.
They named the variety Ponca, which has all the characteristics they’ve tried to breed into blackberries. I sampled the Ponca last summer, and I can attest that the Ponca is a very sweet blackberry.
The station sold a limited number of the Ponca plants last summer. Alfred Froberg, whose farm is near Houston, Texas, has sent John a photograph of a basket of Ponca blackberries, which Alfred has declared is his favorite.