The salmonberry, botanically Rubus spectabilis, is a species originating from western North America with strikingly large and bright pink flowers. With its very special show of flowers and the edible raspberry-like fruits, the salmonberry offers real added value in any garden. That is why we have decided to include the following varieties in our range.
Raspberries with added value – salmonberry young plants
The natural distribution area of salmonberries is the Pacific coast of North America. Here they can be found from Alaska to northern California. Due to this fact, salmonberries can also cope very well with rather more humid locations in the garden than the actual garden raspberry. The name salmonberry does not come from the colour of the flowers or the fruit. The name comes from the fact that the fruits ripen at the same time as the salmon arrive at the Columbia River.
The flower colour of salmonberries varies slightly from a bright pink to an intense purple. But the fruits also vary in colour from yellow to orange to a bright red. The biggest difference to the fruit of the garden raspberry is its captivating shine.
Basically, salmonberries have the same ripening behaviour as our summer raspberries. The blossoms and fruits are thus formed on the biennial and perennial shoots. You have read correctly: with the salmonberries, there is not necessarily the biennial rhythm that you are perhaps used to with garden raspberries. Salmonberries have an almost shrub-like habit, which means that the flowers and fruits are also formed on the perennial shoots. In terms of taste, the fruits may lack the typical raspberry aroma that we are familiar with, but this is not a garden raspberry either. Nevertheless, the fruits have a special sweetness and are almost sweeter than most conventional raspberries.
Salmonberry 'Pacific Rose'
The variety 'Pacific Rose' is a single flowering variety, which is most similar to the wild variety. It has a large number of beautiful and intense pink-coloured flowers. The salmonberry 'Pacific Rose' grows slightly stronger than the 'Olympic Double' variety described below and it has a higher yield due to its single flowers. The ripening time of this variety is also a bit earlier.
Short description:
- Plant: it bears fruit on one-year-old and perennial shoots, shrub-like growth up to 2 m tall, slightly prickled, forms runners but remains in place, completely hardy and robust
- Flowers: single flowers, intense pink colour, blooms from early/mid-May, rich-blooming
- Fruits: large, raspberry-like, firm fruit, yellow-orange to bright red, sweet flavour
- Harvest: from about mid-June, before the summer raspberries
- Special features: also thrives well in wetter locations and partial shade
Salmonberry 'Olympic Double'
The variety 'Olympic Double' is, as the name suggests, a double-flowering salmonberry variety. The large and spectacular flowers are intensely pink in colour and are very much reminiscent of the flowers of a classic English rose, with which the salmonberries are also related in the botanical sense, at least on the family level. This variety grows slightly weaker and is also a little later in maturity than the previously described salmonberry 'Pacific Rose'. The variety 'Olympic Double' is not so fertile, which is mainly due to the very double flowers. However, this salmonberry is very convincing because of its fantastic bloom.
Short description:
- Plant: bears fruit on one-year-old and perennial shoots, shrub-like growth up to 1.5 m tall, shoots have prickles, completely hardy, forms runners but remains in place
- Flowers: pink flowers, very double (almost like an English rose), rich-blooming with a slight fragrance, blooms from the beginning of June
- Fruits: large, raspberry-like and firm fruit, slightly smaller and less yield than 'Pacific Rose', yellow-orange to bright red
- Harvest: from around the end of June, with the earliest summer raspberries
- Special features: also thrives well in wetter locations and partial shade
For those who cannot or do not want to choose between the many delicious fruits of the salmonberry 'Pacific Rose' and the magnificent flowering of the salmonberry 'Olympic Double', we recommend that you take both varieties. This way both your eyes and your palate will be happy.
The future of salmonberries
One of the breeding programmes at our sister company Lubera® is designed to combine the blossoming splendour of salmonberries with the more positive fruit characteristics of garden raspberries. Garden raspberries have already been crossed with salmonberries and the first visible results will be seen as early as this year. Although we are still a long way from the market launch of a garden raspberry with the impressive flowers of salmonberries, we are confident that we will be able to achieve this soon. Please imagine that in the not too distant future there will be raspberries that first bloom in an intense pink colour and almost look like ornamental shrubs and then afterwards, the tasty fruit will be harvested in large numbers, like in our grandmothers' time.
