This is a good time to start a thread on
Raspberries (genus
Rubus), because my raspberries started ripening during the last week of June. Fruit (berry)-bearing plant species of the genus
Rubus are known as
Brambles.
http://ssfruit.cas.psu.edu/chapter7/chapter7a.htmBrambles are defined as any species belonging to the
Rubus genus. This covers a large number of plants found growing in the woods and fields surrounding us. Practically speaking, however, the brambles of concern to the home gardener are
raspberries (red, black, and purple), blackberries (thornless and thorny), and some of the recently developed hybrids, such as tayberries.
Brambles are, in some ways, the perfect home garden plant. They are relatively easy to grow, requiring little more than a patch of full sun and some well-drained soil. They are highly perishable or often unavailable commercially, so the home planting assures a supply of this delicious treat.
Plants belonging to the
Rubus genus typically have perennial roots with shoots that are biennial. This means that the shoots (called “canes”) grow vegetatively in the first growing season, go through a dormant season, then leaf out, flower, fruit, and die during the second growing season.
Raspberries and
blackberries are the two most common bramble crops. Red, black, and purple raspberries are the three most commonly grown raspberry types. The word “type” is used intentionally, because the differences among them include not only the color of the fruit, but also the growth habit (and hence the cultural practices), disease problems, and other characteristics.
Red raspberries can be either of two types. Summer-bearing red raspberries bear their fruit from late June to August. They have the typical biennial life cycle of a bramble, so their canes die after fruiting. Primocane-bearing types such as Heritage fruit during the first year, and therefore are the exception to the life cycle outlined above. Also called “everbearing” raspberries, they will fruit again in the spring on the buds below those that fruited the previous fall. Because both of these red raspberries produce new canes (suckers) primarily from the root system, they usually are grown in a hedgerow. They are the most winter hardy of the raspberries.
Black raspberries initiate new canes from the crown of the plant rather than from root suckers. Because of this, they are grown in a “hill” system: each plant is grown independently, with pruning and maintenance done on a per-plant basis. They require summer tipping, unlike red raspberries, because individual canes will grow to unmanageable lengths. Black raspberries bear their fruit in late June through July, and are the most winter tender of the raspberries.
Purple raspberries initiate new canes predominantly from the crown, but may sucker between plants as well. They are grown essentially as black raspberries are, and have intermediate cold hardiness.
Gold raspberries also are available, although they are not widely grown. Efforts are under way to develop a commercially viable gold raspberry (see “Cultivar Selection”).
Eastern blackberries can be thorny and erect, or thornless and trailing. Thornless types are much more cold sensitive (to 0°F) and can be grown only in the southern or warmer portions of Pennsylvania. Because of their trailing growth habit, they require trellising. Thorny types often have excellent fruit quality, but the thorns are brutal. Generally, thorny types of blackberries will tolerate temperatures to about -5°F. They do not require trellising.
Tayberries were bred by crossing a blackberry with a raspberry. The flavor of the fruit reflects this parentage, and many people feel that a ripe tayberry is the most flavorful bramble of all. Unfortunately, tayberries are very soft when fully ripe, so they don’t lend themselves to commercial production. Although they are quite thorny, they grow in a manner similar to thornless blackberries and require similar planting, training, and pruning techniques.
Other brambles, most of which are either hybrids among
Rubus species or specific cultivars of blackberry, such as Loganberry, Boysenberry, Marionberry and Ollalaberry, are grown extensively in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. They have excellent fruit quality, but are not well adapted to environmental conditions in Pennsylvania, and should not be grown here. Their most limiting characteristic is their cold tenderness.
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