Photo by Unsplash/John Sailer
| Bramble Type | Pros and Cons | Varieties | Regional Adaptation |
| Raspberry, June-bearing | Red to purple fruits ripen all at once in early summer on spiny arching one-year-old canes. Provide trellis or grow plants on a fence. |
Early-ripening ‘Prelude’ has great flavor, but later-ripening ‘Lauren’ is even sweeter. |
Easy to grow in any climate with cold winters. Canes hardy to at least minus 15 degrees; hardiness varies with variety. |
| Raspberry, black, early summer-bearing | Black fruits ripen over a three-week period in early summer on thorny arching canes. Grow on a fence, or manage as a thicket. |
‘Jewel’ is often more productive than wild strains. All are choice berries for making juice and wine. |
Best in the Appalachians and Midwest, which are the native ranges of this species. Hardy to minus 15 degrees. |
| Raspberry, fall-bearing | Red, purple or yellow berries ripen from late summer to frost on upright spiny canes. They require minimal trellising and tolerate partial shade. |
‘Royalty,’ ‘Autumn Britten’ and other varieties need little maintenance; simply cut them back to the ground in late winter. |
Plants bear on new growth, will grow in warmer climates with limited winter chilling. Winter hardy to minus 20 degrees; hardiness varies with variety. |
| Blackberry, summer-bearing | Glossy black berries ripen in summer. Grow on a fence or trellis, or manage as a thicket. Many varieties lack thorns. |
Thornless ‘Triple Crown’ produces bumper crops, even when pruned to a pillar. |
Not as cold-hardy as raspberries, but they’re easy to grow where temperatures seldom dip below minus 10 degrees. |
| Blackberry, fall-bearing |
Glossy black berries ripen in fall on upright spiny canes. Require minimal trellising. |
Two new varieties, ‘Prime-Jim’ and ‘Prime-Jan,’ represent this blackberry type. |
Plants bear on new growth, so they are minimally affected by extreme winter cold or late freezes. Hardy to at least minus 20 degrees. |
To learn more, see Growing Raspberries and Blackberries.
