They are closely associated with blackberries. Rather than high-arching or erect, they are small trailing or woody vine brambles bearing small bunches of fruits resembling raspberries. The dewberry fruit is edible and can be made into preserves, consumed fresh, or cooked into pies. They are commonly dark purple rather than red. Dewberries can be found all over Northern Europe and North America. The plant flowers between April and June.
What Does the Dewberry Plant Look Like?
The dewberry is a woody vine with curled prickles that root at the cane tips. The older stems are woody and brownish, while the younger ones are green. The density of flowers is moderate. The dewberry plant looks whitish and is characteristically subtended by a little leaf. They present in tiny clusters or sometimes on long stalks as singles. The dewberry leaves are complex, alternating, and roughly oval with sharp teeth. They are primarily three-divided, with each of the two lateral leaflets having a pointy lobe.
Dewberry Fruits
Similar to raspberries, the dewberry fruit is purple-red, with seeds that are more rigid and bigger in comparison to blackberry seeds. Its fruits are a deep purple, nearly black, and covered in a thin coating of waxy droplets. As a result, they seem pale blue. Dewberries are less popular since their tiny fruits have a distinct sour flavor even when completely ripe.
Characteristics and Growth Habit
The dewberry plant grows in a trailing habit and reaches a height of approximately two feet. Its red-haired stems are covered in hooked prickles (small thorns). Northern dewberries are low-growing perennial plants that grow like a woody vine, with stems reaching fifteen feet trailing the ground.
The dewberries are hard to pick since they naturally run close to the ground. Fruiting canes of dewberries are commonly attached to a wire trellis which helps to keep them off the ground, making the fruit more easily reachable.
Habitat and Cultivation
The dewberry plant occurs in abandoned pastures, fields, fencerows, thickets, or prairies. The European dewberry is often limited to coastal areas, especially dune environments.Most dewberries are self-fruitful. Cross-pollination is mandatory to produce a crop.
Dewberry Benefits for the Ecosystem
Several bird types, including finches, waxwings, and catbirds, relish dewberry fruits, as do opossums, box turtles, and raccoons. As a source of food, they keep the ecosystem going.
Dewberries Health Benefits
This fruit is rich in minerals and vitamins and has a low-calorie density, meaning its calorie count is low - up to 0.01 calories per ounce. The dewberry is a reputable source of Vitamins K and C - approximately 52.9% per calorie. Additionally, they contain low levels of potentially harmful ingredients like sodium, fat, and sugars - up to 0% per ounce.
Are Dewberries Edible?
You can experiment with dewberries like with strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries. Blend them into a smoothie, add them to other fruit cake ingredients, make a cocktail, or add them to your fruit salad - are all viable options. You can also use dewberries to make jam, cobbler, or pie. Steeping the dry leaves in hot water can also make a healthy, herbal tea.
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Berry Benefits in Landscaping
The beginning of fall often marks the end of the planting season and the beginning of winter. However, you can take advantage of this season to plant some berries and other perennial plants in your landscape. The cold weather during the fall season allows for woody perennial plants like berries to form their roots. Thus, you will enjoy your sweet delicacy at the start of spring. Besides being a mouth-watering delicacy, berries bring a positive change in the ecosystems for both human beings and animals.
Different types of berry plants
You can find different types of berry plants on TN Nursery. The website is unique because it allows the buyer to filter the different kinds of berry plants depending on the bloom color, bloom season, exposure, height at maturity, planting zone, and usage. You will also find the different prices for each berry plant. Berry plants harvested from the garden are delicious and have a great fragrance. Some berry varieties include blueberries, boysenberries, raspberries, dewberry, huckleberries, and chokeberries.
Benefits of planting berries on the landscape
Some plants, like Chokeberries, make a lot of difference when you plant them on your landscape. These plants are also great for fruit production, and it grows from 4 to 100 feet in width and height and produces suckers at the base. The plant produces white flowers in April and May and then ripens during the late summer. You can use some of these berries to create jellies or syrups, and they are a good source of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Another benefit of planting berries on your landscape is that they are highly resistant to the local weather. Berries are native plants, and their nature allows them to withstand harsh weather and bloom well the next season. Thus, this saves you the time and money you would have to spend to purchase other berry plants. Just like most native plants, berry plants are hardy and do well in their dry habitat. Thus, they can hold little moisture in the soil, which allows you to save water.
Some berry plants, like blueberries, give a very appealing color during the fall. The blueberry plant blossoms in July and offers plenty of benefits, such as baking and jelly manufacture. During the fall, the leaves on this plant will turn to a bright red color, and this color remains even during winter. You can collect the berry leaves during autumn and use them for your tea, and they are beneficial because they provide antioxidants and minerals from the berries. Since berries are native and resistant, they remove the burden of constant maintenance because the berry plants are resistant to drought, disease, and other environmental stresses.
Berry plants also help control weeds because they outgrow them quite fast. Most native plants, like berries, grow in a way that helps protect the soil from flooding with water. Hence, when you choose to landscape with berry plants, the land remains rich, allowing the plants to do well in their environment. Plants like berries help to restore the natural habitats for animals that reside in your area. Berry plants will produce fruits, nuts, nectar, and seeds that are a good source of food for birds and animals. Sometimes, wildlife animals are dependent on these plants and other natural resources to survive.
Also, berries are not invasive and will comfortably allow other plants to thrive comfortably in the landscape. Invasive plants make landscaping difficult because they take up a lot of space. However, berry plants will always leave space for other plants to thrive.
You can purchase berry plants on this online platform https://www.tnnursery.net/berry-plants-for-sale/. It is cheaper to plant your berry fruits compared to buying them from the store.
