20 Types Of Raspberry Plants

Raspberries are one of the most loved berries around the world. Their sweet and juicy taste together with a wonderful color rich in nutrients makes this fruit a clear favorite with everyone. 

Due to several breeding programs, there are many new raspberry types, each with a different taste and growing features. In this article, we explore the different types of raspberries and what they offer.

Different Types Of Raspberry Plants

There are different ways you can classify fruit plants, like raspberry. One popular option is to categorize these plants by color.

Red Raspberry Varieties

The majority of us will know red raspberries, with their pink/red color. This is the variety we usually find in supermarkets. What makes this raspberry type so special is its relatively large size and firmness.

Amity

The raspberry plants of the Amity variety grow all year round. Its big and premium quality red raspberries are firm and juicy with a very distinct flavor. These berries are dark red in color and perfect for fresh desserts, or frozen.

The Amity raspberry plant can grow up to 6 feet tall, and while the first-year growth offers a crop in summer and fall, the second year growth only produces berries once a year.

Bababerry

One of the extra-large varieties, the fruit of the Bababerry raspberry plant can grow up to 1.5 inches. They are ideal for eating fresh or freezing. 

The Bababerry plant is best suited for warmer climates of the US, although it does withstand lower temperatures as well. Mainly summer-producing, the plant’s crop is larger in June than in fall.

Boyne

Originally introduced in the 1960s, Boyne is a summer-producing, red raspberry. It grows early in the season and can survive also extreme arctic climates.

This makes Boyne raspberry plants extremely winter hardy. Once the raspberries ripen in mid-July, the fruit is rich in flavor and medium size. They can be eaten fresh, or you can store them in containers or freeze them.

Another great benefit of the Byone variety is that it doesn’t need trellising to support the plant.

Canby

Originally introduced in 1953, the fruit of Canby raspberry plant is large and bright red. The plant has strong canes but it does need to be supported by a nearby wall or fence.

Its summer crop is abundant, and the berries are ideal for cooking, canning or freezing.

Heritage

The Heritage raspberry variety produces bright red and firm berries. It is one of the best quality fruit on the market. This summer-producing raspberry plant starts ripening from July, and the crops mature in September, up until the first frost.

This means that for this variety, the fall crop is much higher quality than the summer crop, which is often used for making jellies and jam.

The Heritage raspberry plants have upright, sturdy canes that don’t need staking. These plants can be grown in poor soil but with good water drainage. 

Latham

The Latham raspberry plant adapts well to different soil types. Its thorny, upright shrubs are both winter-hardy and self-pollinating.

Latham plants however can attract insects, such as leafhoppers, raspberry beetle, aphids and red spider mites. It can also be affected by fungal diseases like powdery mildew, raspberry rust or raspberry cane blight.

This raspberry variety produces flavorful, sweet raspberries that can be eaten fresh, frozen or canned. 

Prelude

Same as the Heritage and Boyne varieties, Prelude is also a cold-hardy red raspberry plant that can be harvested in summer, with an additional fall harvest.

The Prelude plant has been specially bred to be resistant to the Phytophthora root rot disease.

The rich, sweet berries of this variety are easy to pick, and they can be used in jams or desserts or frozen.

September

The September variety raspberry plant produces a crop of tart, medium-sized berries. It can offer two crops a season in most northern US states, with a light June crop followed by a heavier crop in September.

In southern US states, the September raspberry variety ripens in August with the strongest flavor emerging in September (hence its name). The plant can reach up to 6 feet in height and is highly tolerant to freezing climates.

The juicy berries can be freshly eaten, frozen or preserved. With the gentle red color and a sweet flavor, this variety is particularly popular with children.

Yellow Raspberry Varieties

A little more exotic in appearance, yellow raspberries have a golden to yellow color, often resembling a flavor blend of raspberries, apricots and bananas.

Amber

The Amber raspberry variety produces high-quality yellow berries that make this superior to other raspberry types. Amber berries are similar in taste to red-colored varieties.

This raspberry plant can be harvested in summer but the berries usually ripen a little later.

Fall Gold

Amongst the largest yellow varieties, Fall Gold raspberries are yellowish-golden berries that can be used for preserves or frozen.

You can pair them easily with other varieties, and they are often used as a great productive variety. Fall Gold is an ever-bearing raspberry variety, with harvests in fall and spring. 

Golden Summit

Golden, firm and large, the berries of the Golden Summit raspberry plant are abundant. The ever-bearing plant produces a crop in the first season, and when you cut it off a few inches above the soil for winter, you can achieve a large crop in fall in the next season. 

Black Raspberry Varieties

Mostly native to the northern USA, black raspberries are blue to black in color and they have a unique, rich taste.

These berries also show a soft whitish bloom, which should not be mistaken for mold as it is a common feature. Black raspberries are also hollow inside.

Black Hawk

Black Hawk is the most productive variety of black raspberry plants. The firm and large berries are rich in flavor and don’t crumble.

The Black Hawk plant, growing up to 6 feet in height, is resistant to fungal and pest diseases, which is particularly useful as it produces a heavy, mid-season crop.

Bristol

The Bristol black raspberry variety was initially introduced by the Cornell Small Fruit Breeding Program in Geneva, New York.

This heirloom variety produces high yields. With its upright growth and cluster formations, the spiny canes of this plant are vigorous and moderately hardy.

It is resistant to one of the toughest raspberry diseases, powdery mildew. 

The black berries of the Bristol variety are firm and flossy offering high levels of nutrients. 

Dundee

Good quality with a dull black color, the Dundee raspberries are produced by a hardy and vigorous plant that is tolerant of poorly drained soils.

The Dundee raspberry canes are highly productive but they can be easily damaged by strong winds if not supported by a trellis or wall.

Jewel

Jewel is a cross-bred variety between the black raspberry varities of Dundee and Bristol.

Loved by supermarket customers and rated highly by testing facilities, this variety offers shiny and sweet black raspberries which can be used for jam and jelly, or preserved.

The berries’ rich flavor also contains high levels of phytonutrients, as well as some cancer-preventing nutrients.

The Jewel raspberry plant is sturdy and it’s highly resistant to viruses and common raspberry diseases. The Jewel variety is tolerant to cold climates but it’s best to plant in spring.

With regular watering and well drained soil, this plant can produce a high-yielding crop of firm berries.

Loganberry

The Loganberry black raspberry variety is a cross between a red raspberry and the wild blackberry from the Pacific coast. It produces a crop of large, deep wine red berries.

Named after the horticulturalist James Harvey Logan, the Loganberry variety is a popular growing plant in Oregon and Washington, as well as abroad in Australia.

Its trailing, prickly canes are reasonably hardy and frost resistant. 

The dark deep almost purple color of the berries hunt at  the rich and tart flavor. These black raaspberries can be either preserved, canned or even made into wine. 

Purple Raspberry Varieties

Purple raspberries are commonly seen as a hybrid of red and blaack raspberries, with purple berries and a white bloom on the outer side. 

Brandywine

Brandywine combines the best of both red and black raspberries. This hybrid produces big, tart berries that have a beautifully soft texture.

First introduced by Cornell University in New York, Brandywine is a highly adaptable and pest-resistant plant. 

The Brandywine raspberry plant has large, upright canes with wide-spaced thorns. It’s ideally planted in spring when the soil has been worked.

Regular watering and shallow cultivation can help this plant to produce lush, purple berries that are commonly used to ferment wines and other spirits.

They can also be used for jams, jellies, pies and cakes where their purple color turns into bright red.

Clyde

The extra-large fruit of the Clyde raspberry variety makes this variety attractive to large producers. The vigorous and disease-resistant plant grows a crop with firm and glossy purple berries that ripen in mid-season.

Royalty

Bearing one of the highest fruit yields of all purple raspberries, Royalty produces large berries of high fruit quality. The flavorful berries can be eaten fresh, frozen or used for baking. 

Royalty was introduced by the Cornell Research Foundation as a cross-breed between a red and purple raspberry.

This hardy plant requires regular watering and cultivation, and its canes should be pruned back regularly to allow new canes to grow.

Sodus

The most popular purple raspberry type, Sodus produces large, tart berries that ripen much later than most purple and red raspberries. This plant is sturdy and hardy enough to withstand cold temperatures. 

What Type Of Raspberry Is The Best?

Raspberry plants are commonly categorized by color, including red, yellow, black and purple raspberries. Red raspberries are best known and most sought-after raspberries with a sweet taste.

While yellow raspberries bear more of an exotic flavor, black raspberries are more tart. Purple raspberries combine the good features of red and black raspberries.

There are a variety of different types of raspberry plants. Raspberries can be cultivated and grown in almost all climate regions across the world.

Most raspberry plants can be harvested twice a year, while other varieties are either summer-bearing (with a crop in mid-summer) or fall-bearing (with a crop in September).

Whatever raspberry plant you choose, there is a type for every gardener.