Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis)
Salmonberry (Rubus
spectabilis)
Although one of our most productive plants, the salmonberry is often grown as an ornamental.
A bit on the prickly side but salmonberries
are generally easier to manage than other members of the raspberry family to whom it belongs. It is much more upright and shrubby in habit, and you do not have to prune out the old canes every year, just remove some old woody ones now and then to encourage new growth in the spring.
The fruit is usually ripe several weeks before the raspberry, which it closely resembles except that it’s shiny and usually a lovely amber/orange in colour though some have a red blush as well.
They are tasty, though rarely get as far as the house as they make a refreshing munch, and our chickens and blackbirds will do anything for them.
Attractive foliage and bright pink flowers opening in very early spring it makes a decorative hedge about 1.5-2 m high. Though best suited to a sunny spot it is not fussy about soil.