Narrative
Parentage: Seedling. Male parent: Rubus deliciosus. Female parent: An unnamed seedling of Rubus trilobus. Propagation: Holds its distinguishing characteristics through succeeding propagations by both cuttings and layering. Fruit: A somewhat flattened hemispherical shape consisting of a number of soft drupelets; indistinguishable from fruit of Rubus deliciosus. Color: Indian Lake, Plate 826/2 (Color Chart of lo the Royal Horticultural Society). Size: Uniform. Average length about 1/4 inch. Average breadth about 1/2 inch. Form: Uniform. Apex-rounded. Flesh: Juicy. Texture Firm. Flavor Sub-acid. Quality Inferior. No signs of any diseases or pests have been observed, as compared with other plants grown in England under the same cultural conditions. Frost resistance: No injury from cold weather has been observed to date in England. Drought resistance: No injury from dry weather has been observed to date in England. Plant Hunter and Breeder: Captain Collingwood Ingram1880-1981 My biographical dictionary records Cherry Ingram as the grandson of the newspaper proprietor, Herbert Ingram, who became famous for his garden at Benenden, Kent, with its collection of Japanese ornamental cherries, and for his books: The Birds of the Riviera (1926), Isles of the Seven Seas (1936), Ornamental Cherries (1948), In Search of Birds (1966), A Garden of Memories (1970) and The Migration of the Swallow (1974).H e bought The Grange at Benenden and surrounding land when he retired from the Royal Flying Corps at the end of the First World War. There was no garden to speak of and he immediately began to plant a shelter belt of trees. He studied books on botany and set off with great enthusiasm on a series of plant hunting trips to far-flung places (Japan, Patagonia, Portugal, New Zealand). The garden filled with plants, many new to British gardens. He recalled these travels in his book A Garden of Memories, a recommended good read. His collecting efforts were substantial: he introduced 50 cherry species and varieties alone. This material gave him great scope for hybridization, something he was passionate about, and in fact he raised many new hybrids: 'The creation of a really first-class plant will give you not only a temporary thrill but a lasting glow of satisfaction'. One of his most famous hybrids is Rubus Benenden. In 1938, E.K. Balls and W. Balfour Gourlay brought back seed of Rubus trilobus found growing on an extinct Mexican volcano. This had large white flowers but very few in number, so Ingram crossed it with the floriferous Rubus deliciousus, the Rocky Mountain Raspberry from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. He called his new plant Rubus x tridel, combining the names of the two parents and added the cultivar name Benenden to indicate its origin. I believe the species name 'x tridel' has not actually been validly published, and the RHS. publications, including the RHS Plant Finder, the best authority on cultivated plant nomenclature, refer to this as Rubus Benenden. It was such a successful garden plant that it has received every RHS. award possible. Harrisiana - http://www.plantsci.rdg.ac.uk/harrisiana/harrisiana34.htm
Tom Hoffman donation; original hybrid was made by a Captain Collingwood Ingram in 1950; "Cherry" Ingram was a plant hunter and breeder
Cultivar Synonym= R. x tridel
NAMED FOR= the town of Benenden in England