All About Marionberries

May 1, 2026 Jillian Novak

We just launched our new Marionberry Classic Truffle, but if you're not from Oregon, you may be wondering what exactly a Marionberry is. Even if you do know what a Marionberry is, you may not know what sets it apart from other blackberries; either way, it is a fascinating fruit. From drupelets to gene pools, read on to learn all about this unique blackberry variety, its history, and its humble creator!

What are Blackberries?

Caneberries are a family of fruit that grow on hard, woody stems referred to as "canes." The caneberry family includes raspberries and blackberries. The fruit of caneberries are made up of a collection of "drupelets," juice-filled sacs that grow in a cluster and contain a seed. More technically, drupelets are

a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the pip (UK), pit (US), stone, or pyrena) of hardened endocarp with a seed (kernel) inside.¹

Oregon is continually one of the top producers of caneberries in the US, with over 47 million pounds of blackberries, Marionberries, raspberries, and Boysenberries grown in 2020 alone, which generated 38.5 million dollars (US) for the state's economy. Amazingly, all of those berries came from only 8,000 acres spanning a mere handful of counties.²

Scientists are still uncertain as to how, exactly, blackberries arrived in Oregon, with some hypotheses pointing to Hawaii and others pointing to the Oregon Trail. We do know that raspberries, however, were introduced in the late 1800s, and within a couple of short decades, Gresham, OR was known as the "Raspberry Capital of the World."

How are Caneberries Grown?

Properly cared for, caneberry plants can grow and thrive for over a decade. The roots are perennial, which means they live for multiple years, but the canes--the parts of the plants that flower and grow--only live for two. During the first year of the cane's existence, it is called a primocane; these types of cane do not usually fruit. During their second year, they are referred to as floricanes, which do produce flowers and fruit. Floricanes die after fruiting. Blackberry plants can have both primocanes and floricanes simultaneously and thus can produce fruit each year.

Caneberries are capable of producing new seeds without pollination from insects or wind, but to produce them at scale, bees are necessary for pollination. Farmers typically use 2-4 bee hives per acre to pollinate large areas, and blackberries are generally ready for harvest a month to a month-and-a-half post-pollination.

How are Caneberries Harvested?

Caneberries are very soft and suffer damage quite easily, which means most berries sold fresh are picked by hand. Berries destined for processing or freezing are harvested by large machines that straddle the berry rows, knock fruit from canes, and then send the berries down a conveyor belt to crews to be removed from the fields.

Why was the Marionberry Invented?

The United States Department of Agriculture began a joint agricultural development program with Oregon State University in 1928. It is now the oldest "continuously active blackberry breeding program in the world."³

George M. Darrow spent the later years of the 1920s and early 1930s getting the breeding program established in Corvallis, OR. During the same time period, George F. Waldo was working on the opposite side of the country in Glenn Dale, MD, as the head of berry breeding, a position he kept from 1926-1932. In 1932, Darrow and Waldo switched jobs and geographical locations with each other. This switch was apparently mutually beneficial, as Waldo "really didn’t seem to have the personality to lead a far-flung group of scientists in a national breeding effort."

Once in Oregon, the breeding pool of blackberries that Waldo generated contained Loganberry, Youngberry, Mammoth, Himalaya, and wild varities like Zielinski and Santiam. Waldo knew the maternal parent of these plants in his breeding pool was Rubus ursinus, the native blackberry species on the Pacific coast; he did not know but suspected Loganberry as the paternal parent of his breeding plants. From this gene pool, Waldo quickly developed Pacific (1942), Cascade (1942), Chehalem (1948), and Olallie blackberries (1950) before finally crossing Chehalem for flavor and Olallie for production. This final cross led to the Marionberry, released in 1956-57.

Waldo had several goals in developing the Marionberry: firstly, he wanted to improve the fruit size and yield size of blackberry crops, but he also wanted to improve the flavor. Next, he wanted to address the susceptibility of certain varietals of blackberry plants to disease and pests. The artful and selective breeding Waldo did between Chehalem and Olallie was to result in the most economically important berry of his career.⁴

Who was the Inventor of the Marionberry?

George Waldo was born on December 2, 1898, in North Dakota. He and his family moved to Oregon in 1913. After graduating from Oregon Agricultural College in 1922, Waldo went on to earn a master's degree in science from Michigan State University in 1926. Shortly after, he began a 33-year career with the USDA Agricultural Research Service, much of it served in Corvallis, OR, where he developed new breeds of raspberry, blackberries, and strawberries. In addition to his work in developing the Marionberry,

[i]n 1943 [Waldo] released the Willamette raspberry, which was widely planted for 50 years. He crossed strawberry selections OSC 2315 and Puget Beauty to produce Hoods, which were released in 1965 and retain something of a cult following among consumers for their color and outstanding flavor.

Referred to as a quiet, reserved professional, Waldo was a devout Baptist who allegedly refused to dine at any restaurant that served beer. In 1970, Waldo received the Wilder Medal from the American Pomological Society, rewarded to those who have rendered outstanding service in the field of agriculture. Indeed, a head of the modern USDA breeding program has noted how revolutionary Waldo's work was:

“One of the things that I think is lost, really, is that he created a whole crop that never existed before,” Finn said. “That’s remarkable. We would be dead in the water without him or somebody like him.”⁵

Waldo spent much of his retirement serving the ministry of Gideons International, the group responsible for leaving bibles in motel rooms. He died on December 22, 1985, at the ripe old age of 87.^{6, 7}

Gravestone of George Waldo and wife Ruth

What are the Characteristics of Marionberries?

Marionberries are known for their large size, glossy black appearance, and conical shape, with a flavor profile described as a "harmonious blend of sweetness and tartness, with a rich, earthy undertone." They are firm in texture with a high juice content.⁸

What are the Best Conditions for Growing Marionberries?

Marionberries thrive in Western Oregon's mild maritime climate, defined by frequent rain and warm summers. Preferred soil conditions are well-drained sandy loam with a ph range of 5.5 to 6.5. The plants produce long, trailing canes that require trellis support; they ripen in mid-to-late summer.⁸

Sources:

Back to blog