At my cottage we have some native ground raspberries much like the carpet raspberry except the fruit is red. The berries are super good, but I only find maybe 5-10 when foraging. Most of the plants found have no berries. We also have 3 types of wild raspberry. 2 reds, and a black. All very small. I forage them every year because they make the best jam. They don’t taste like domestic raspberries, sweeter, soother flavor. Flavor is unique. I was hoping to bring some of this flavor to the garden with the Arctic berries, which are a cross of 2 raspberry species. Four cultivars exist. Beta, Anna Sophia, and Valentina. I have the latter two only. Always up for a trade for the others.
i have all 4 you mentioned. got 6 thru hartmanns and another 6 from honey berry USA. planted them in the south side of my beds around my thimbleberries and ohio treasure black raspberries. all struggled to make it last year and i thought i lost them, then about 2 weeks ago they started showing up all over the beds and are flowering! very short still at 3in. but they’re looking good so far. how big were yours in the 1st season? these beds were pretty rich , which is probably why they stunted. they’re in 1/2 peat ,1/2 compost and some perlite for drainage in a 12in. raised beds. didnt check ph but my other raspberries/ blueberries are in this mix and are doing well.
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we have a wild swamp raspberry that grows along the ground like a dewberry but they rarely fruit so i didnt plant any. the fruit flavor is excellent when you can find any. the arctics are native here like the cloudberry supposedly is but I’ve never come across them . trust me I’ve looked too.
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That’s about right. I think they may do OK, just need to mature.
This year is the first season, and right now they are about 6x6 inches.
I have them around Legacy Blueberry.
Only Valentina flowered a lot, Seem to have slowed down after the heat wave.
Maybe that is what I’m seeing here? Many Rubus plants out there, many are tropical. I may explore the more obscure cultivars in the future. Also a few Ribes species I would like to try too.
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if you want some plants i can get you some but like i said, they fruit very sparely. too bad as they’re tasty. i wonder if you planted these with arctics, they would cross pollinate and fruit more? my arctics are all flowering but half the size of yours but they just came out so hopefully they gain height thru summer.
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Thanks, but no as you say they hardly fruit. Just wondering out loud if we are seeing the same plant?
ill see if i can find some and post a pic. wanted to go find some ramps anyway to transplant to my fiddlehead fern patch. im sure ill come across some.
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Sounds like you were talking about rubus pubescens, or dwarf red blackberry. It’s a close relative of the arctic raspberry and they do mix, the hybrid is called rubus paracaulis. I’ve tried germinating a number of seeds but to no avail. I have located some sulphuric acid to use instead of NaClO so I’m hopeful some will sprout next time. I’d love to see them mingle with the pure arctic raspberries.
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I found Arctic raspberries in zone 3 Minnesota in June on my property . I will look for the pictures .
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they are native to Maine as well but i haven’t come across them. same for cloudberry. i tried growing seed from norway. none sprouted. i have 4 cultivars i got from hartmanns and honeyberry USA growing around my other trees and bushes but they haven’t fruited for me as of yet. they have really spread like crazy . maybe too much N for them even though i didn’t fertilize. just amended with some compost before planting.
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That looks like R. pubescens. To be sure check if they have above ground stolons instead of suckers like R. arcticus does.
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Rubus arcticus grows abundantly where I live but rarely fruits as most stands consist of a single clone. Same with cloudberry.
I prepared a spot for the arctic raspberies to grow my own. These are Pima and Susanna if I recall. It’ll take a couple of summers to fill this space I guess. I might add a third strain next year.
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Thank you . I will check them next time I am there . I did not notice suckers . Was not aware of R. pubescens species .
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where did you get these cultivars? I’ve heard of them but haven’t seen them for sale. i have anna, sophia , valencia and one other. i don’t remember the name.
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They’re the most commonly available strains here… -bred from native plants. Pure R. arcticus, no stellatus. I doubt you can get them on that side of the pond but If it’s not against the rules I could pass along some rootstock. For me it’s that rubus pubescens and other N. American species that are hard to source.
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what country you hail from Allen? the cultivars i mentioned came from a Swedish breeding program.
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Finland, across the border from Sweden. Afaik these are the only countries (apart from maybe Russia?) where they breed arctic raspberries.
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The ones offered in the states you mentioned are hybrids and perform better than the other cultivars offered in the states. I can’t speak for the Swedish hybrids. If good they will be here. Most Swedish cultivars that are good come here quite quickly. Many of their red and black currants are exceptional in every way. All are here now. They have some great breeding programs in Sweden. So watch for these to be offered here if they are worthwhile, they will make it here.
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I think I had the hybrids beata and sofia last year. They were overall bigger but the flowers didn’t produce any berries. No matter the cultivar, they’re unpredictable producers.
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