Ripening red tayberry fruit on the cane with fresh green foliage
Rubus Tayberry — 15cm / 1.5L15cm / 1.5L
Tayberry

Rubus Tayberry

£12.99
Hardy in the UKSun-loving
Pot size
15cm / 1.5L £12.99

FREE tracked delivery on orders over £60

Complete the set up
Description

Rubus Tayberry is the cross that got it right: blackberry crossed with red raspberry, bred at the Scottish Crop Research Institute and released in 1979, named after the River Tay. The berries are remarkable, up to 4cm long, deep wine-red, carrying blackberry depth with raspberry perfume, sweeter and milder than a loganberry and borne in genuinely heavy trusses through July and August.

Hardiness and seasons. Rated H5 by the RHS, hardy to around -15C in most of the UK, with white to pale pink blackberry flowers in May and June ahead of the crop. It fruits on canes grown the previous summer, so pruning is one simple job a year.

In the garden. Train the canes along wires on a fence or wall and it turns a boundary into a larder: eat the berries fresh, pile them on pavlova, or make the jam that tayberry growers quietly consider the best of all. A heavy-cropping classic among our exotic edibles, happy threading through an exotic border boundary, with more character than anything in our climbing plants that you cannot eat.

Live Arrival Guarantee

All plants are covered by our 7-day live arrival guarantee. We pack every order in protective, sustainable packaging designed to keep your plants safe in transit, and every plant is checked before it ships. On the rare occasion something is not right on arrival, we will make it good, provided the plant is still in its original nursery pot.

Find out more

What to Expect

Seasonal by nature: what to expect

  • Grown outdoors, the way nature intended. Weather-tested and hardened in real UK conditions, so they thrive in your garden. A few marks on the older leaves are normal, the sign of a tough, real plant rather than a flaw.
  • It follows the seasons. Depending on when you order, your plant may arrive cut back, dormant or leafless. That's healthy: dormancy is the ideal time to plant.
  • Posted, not posed. Big leafy plants like bananas and gingers may be trimmed or gently folded to travel safely. It does the plant no harm, and it powers away again in spring.

Not sure what to expect from yours? Dormant, cut-back or weather-marked plants are all perfectly healthy and normal. Read what to expect through the seasons

Delivery & returns

Order by 1pm Monday to Friday for same day dispatch. Every plant travels in protective, plant-safe packaging with tracked delivery.

Changed your mind? See our Return Policy.

Best quality plants guaranteed
7 day live arrival guarantee
Delivered to your door with care
Earn 64 points with this plant · 5 points per £1 Join free

How to care for Tayberry

Plant me in full sun and I will stand a UK winter outdoors.

In their words

What our customers say

Arrived just like the photos - maybe even fuller. Healthy, well-acclimated, and straight into my collection with no issues.

Emily P.

Flawless leaves, stunning variegation, and clearly cared for by experts. It’s already a talking point in my home office.

James R.

Hard to find rare plants that are pet-safe. Ours arrived in perfect condition and looks amazing without any worry.

Sophie L.
Get to know me

About Tayberry

Rubus Tayberry needs full sun or partial shade and moist but well-drained soil. It is hardy to around −15°C and stands a UK winter outdoors.

Good for

Exotic Borders

Hardiness

TenderVery hardy

RHS H5 · Hardy Exotic · down to around −15°C

RHS H5 (-15 to -10C) and fully hardy as a dormant plant across most of the UK; a sheltered spot protects the blossom and ripening fruit. See what to expect from outdoor plants.

Position

Full sunPartial shadeEast-facingSouth-facingWest-facingSheltered

Full sun for the heaviest, sweetest crop, partial shade tolerated. Train on the sheltered side of a fence or wall facing east, south or west.

Soil

ChalkClayLoamSandMoist but well-drainedAcid pHAlkaline pHNeutral pH

Any fertile, moist but well-drained soil: chalk, clay, loam or sand, acid to alkaline. Dig in well-rotted manure before planting and mulch each spring.

Watering

Water through the first season while the roots establish, and give a weekly soak while the fruit swells in dry spells; otherwise an undemanding, heavy-cropping plant. Read moreShow less

Water through the first season while the roots establish, and give a weekly soak while the fruit swells in dry spells; otherwise an undemanding, heavy-cropping plant.

Mature size

Height1.5 to 2.5m (RHS, trained on wires)
Spread2.5 to 4m (RHS 'Tayberry' page; the group page gives 1.5 to 2.5m; allow 3 to 4m of wire for a mature trained plant)

Reaches full size in 2 to 5 years

Growth habit

Trailing

Flowering

May to June (pale pink or white blackberry-type flowers, followed by fruit in July and August) · White, Pink

Foliage

Deciduous

Pruning

Floricane: fruits on canes that grew the previous summer. Train the canes to horizontal wires on the sheltered side of a fence or wall (RHS). Once established, cut the fruited canes down to the ground in late autumn after harvest and tie in the new season's canes in their place; they carry next year's crop.

Toxicity

None known. Grown as an edible fruit crop; no RHS toxicity warning.

Native range

Garden hybrid, raised in Scotland

Family

Rosaceae

Also known as

Rubus Tayberry

Genus

Rubus
Good to know

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a tayberry taste like?

Large, aromatic and sweet-sharp: the depth of a blackberry carrying the perfume of a raspberry, sweeter and milder than a loganberry. Fresh they are superb; cooked into jam they are the berry connoisseur's favourite, full stop. Browse more fruit among our exotic edibles.

When do tayberries fruit?

July and August: heavy trusses of elongated, deep wine-red berries up to 4cm long, cropping more generously than a loganberry. Pick when fully coloured and slightly soft; they part from the plug like a blackberry.

What is a tayberry a cross between?

Blackberry and red raspberry, bred by Derek Jennings at the Scottish Crop Research Institute near Dundee and released in 1979, named after the River Tay. It is widely judged the best-flavoured of all the hybrid berries.

How do I prune a tayberry?

One job a year: it fruits on last summer's canes, so after harvest cut the fruited canes down to the ground in late autumn and tie the new season's canes onto the wires in their place. Those carry next year's crop.

Does it need support?

Yes. Give it three or four horizontal wires on a fence or wall and tie the long canes in as fans or arcs. Trained flat it crops harder, ripens better and picks far more comfortably.

Do tayberries have thorns?

The classic tayberry carries fine blackberry-like prickles, so wear gloves for pruning and tying in; a thornless form called 'Buckingham' also exists in the trade. Either way the picking is easy, as the long berries hang clear of the canes.

Does my plant come with a pot?
Your plant will arrive in its nursery grow pot — the plastic pot it's been growing in. We don't include a decorative pot as standard, and there's a good reason for that: it means you get to choose one that fits your space and style, rather than being stuck with something that doesn't suit your home.

It also means you're not paying extra for a pot you might not want. The nursery pot is perfectly fine to keep your plant in for a while, just pop it inside a decorative cover pot or cache pot and you're good to go. When you're ready to repot (usually after a growing season or when roots start poking out the bottom), you can move it into something more permanent with fresh soil.

If you're not sure what size cover pot to go for, check the pot selector tool listed above, you'll want a decorative pot that's a centimetre or two wider than that to give it a comfortable fit.
How big will my plant be when it arrives?
Every plant on our site includes the pot size (e.g. 12cm) and, where possible, an approximate height. That's the most reliable way to set your expectations, photos can sometimes make a plant look larger or smaller than it really is.

If you're thinking "that sounds quite small for the price," here's something worth knowing: younger, smaller plants almost always adapt better to your home than larger ones. They adjust faster to your light and humidity, put out new growth more quickly, and tend to establish stronger root systems long-term. A plant that grows into your space will usually outperform one that was already big when it arrived.

That said, every plant is an individual. The one you receive may vary slightly in height, shape, or fullness compared to the photo, that's the nature of living things, not a quality issue. We select healthy, well-established specimens, and if you ever feel your plant doesn't match what you were expecting, just get in touch and we'll take a look.
What makes your plants different from the supermarket or garden centre?
There's a big difference between a plant that's been sitting under on a retail shelf and one that's been looked after and cared for by people who specialise in exactly this.

Our plants are grown in house or sourced from specialist nurseries, many of them varieties you simply won't find at your local garden centre or supermarket. Before anything leaves us, it's checked over by our horticultural team to make sure it's healthy, well-rooted, and ready to thrive in your home. We're not shifting volume off a pallet, we're choosing plants we'd want to keep ourselves.

When you buy from a supermarket, you get a plant and a generic care label. When you buy from us, you get the knowledge that comes with it, detailed care guidance, a team you can actually contact if something isn't going right, and the confidence that what's arriving has been looked after properly from the moment it was grown to the moment it reaches your door.

We're a specialist nursery first, not a retailer that happens to sell plants. That's the difference, and you'll see it the moment you open the box.
What should I do when my plant arrives?
First things first, unbox it as soon as you can. Plants don't love being in dark boxes any more than you would, and the sooner yours is out and breathing, the better.

Remove all the packaging carefully, give the soil a check with your finger, and water lightly if it feels dry. Then find it a spot with appropriate light, but avoid putting it straight into harsh direct sun or next to a radiator. Think of it like arriving somewhere new after a long journey: it needs a moment to adjust.

It's completely normal for your plant to look a little tired or droopy after transit. This is called transit stress, and most plants bounce back within a week or two. You might see a yellow leaf or some drooping, don't panic, and resist the urge to overwater or start repotting straight away.

Our advice for the first couple of weeks: leave it in its nursery pot, water it only when the top layer of soil feels dry, and let it acclimatise to your home's light, temperature, and humidity. Once it's settled in and showing signs of new growth, you can think about repotting or moving it to its permanent spot.

Every plant we sell comes with a care guide on the product page so you'll know exactly what it needs going forward. And if anything doesn't look right, get in touch with our team, we're always happy to help.
Will my plant survive being shipped?
Yes! and we go to serious lengths to make sure of it. Every plant is hand-packed by our team with protective wrapping and secure, custom-designed boxes to keep it stable and safe in transit. We've shipped hundreds of thousands of plants across the UK and our packaging methods have been refined over years to handle the bumps and jolts of delivery.

During colder months, we monitor weather forecasts and offer heat packs where needed to protect against frost. In extreme conditions, we may hold your order for a day or two rather than risk sending it out, we'd rather you wait an extra day than receive a stressed plant.

That said, plants are living things, and the occasional transit wobble can happen. If your plant arrives damaged or isn't in the condition you'd expect, just get in touch within 7 days with a photo, and we'll make it right, whether that's a replacement or a full refund. No fuss.

The short version: we treat every box like it's going to someone who really cares about what's inside, because it is.
Why Grow Tropicals

Plants delivered the way they deserve

Packaged with Care

Packaged with Care

Every order is hand-packed in eco-friendly, protective packaging - refined through thousands of deliveries to ensure your plant arrives healthy, hydrated, and looking its best.

Backed by our Live Arrival Guarantee.

Perfect for Gifting

Perfect for Gifting

From rare collector’s pieces to easy-care favourites, our plants arrive fully potted and ready to enjoy. Add a personalised note at checkout for a thoughtful finishing touch.

Delivered fresh, beautiful, and gift-ready.

Sustainability at Heart

Sustainability at Heart

All plants are ethically sourced from trusted growers, never wild-collected. Every order ships carbon-neutral in minimal-waste packaging.

Good for your home - and the planet.

Verified reviews

Rated by real customers

You may also like

We recommend
Rubus Tayberry
£12.99