David Handley Vegetable/Small Fruit Specialist
Today we’re going to talk about raspberry varieties. We’re going to start off talking
about summer- bearing varieties – which ones are best for growing in a cold climate
like we have here in Maine. Now the first thing you need to think about when you’re
selecting a variety is hardiness. And the second and third things you need to think
about are hardiness and hardiness. That is the most important factor that we’re going
to really be looking at with varieties. There are literally hundreds of varieties
to choose from with raspberries – you need to pick the ones that are very, very hardy
and can tolerate temperatures down to 20 or 30 below zero. That’s quickly going to sort
these out to just a handful of varieties that will do well here. So what we’re looking
at here are my top seven varieties for Maine, keeping in mind that we’re looking for hardiness,
a range of ripening times, good fruit quality and where we can get it, disease resistance.
So I’ll start with the earliest variety of the group, Prelude. Prelude is from the
New York breeding program. It’s a nice, early variety with tall canes, but we’ve
had some issues with winter hardiness on this one. The other thing you need to know about
Prelude is if we have a long, warm fall, sometimes this will bear a little fall crop as well,
so it has some ever-bearing characteristics. I would recommend this for an early variety
from Southern Maine up to the Mid-State region, but I don’t think it’s got the hardiness
for Northern Maine. Our next variety is Reveille, another early
variety. This one tends to ripen over a long period of time, so it peaks over a long period
of time even though it starts early. This variety is from Maryland. I like it a lot
but it’s very soft. Despite the large fruit size, this is not one I would recommend if
you’re planning to go to market with it. Strictly for pick-your-own or home garden
use, and the color and flavor on it are quite good.
Boyne and Killarney are actually sister seedlings of the same cross that we see here. These
are the real workhorses for Maine because they’re very hardy varieties and very productive
under our conditions. Boyne ripens first and it tends to have the higher yield of these
two. It does tend to have a little bit darker color – maybe too dark if you’re planning
on processing this fruit for jam – and the fruit can be small and soft. But the yields
and the earliness are good. Its sister, Killarney, tends to ripen a little
bit later. However, its fruit tends to be a larger, brighter and firmer. This one has
probably had the most success among the commercial growers in the state, but it’s also a very
good home garden variety. They have short-statured canes so they get good snow coverage, and
there lots of thorns on them, but the thorns are very fine and I don’t think they’ll
bother you very much. Moving onto the mid-season area, as we get
toward the end of July and into August, we have the Canadian variety Nova. This is a
nice, firm, glossy berry with good color, and what I really like about this variety
is it has good disease resistance. Nova is resistant to most of the cane diseases you’ll
see, such as anthracnose, spur blight and cane blight, so it’s a good one to consider
if you’re looking at using reduced fungicide sprays or perhaps no fungicide sprays.
Taylor is one of raspberry eaters’ favorites because this has some of the best eating quality
of any of the varieties, nice texture, excellent flavor and good fruit size; rather late ripening.
The biggest problem with Taylor is the canes are very susceptible to diseases, both fungal
and viral. So plant Taylor only in a spot where you’re not getting a lot of pressure
from wild raspberries around you that could infect this plant.
Finally, we’ll end with Encore. Encore is from the same New York program that brought
us Prelude, our early variety. Encore has very large fruit, probably the largest of
any we’re looking at here. The fruit is firm and has good color and flavor. This one
has not had the hardiness problems of Prelude, so it’s one I would strongly recommend for
a late variety. Because of its late ripening, this will bridge the gap between your typical
summer-bearing varieties and those fall-fruiting, ever-bearing varieties.
So these are the ones I would recommend for this area on my list. The other thing I want
to remind you of is when you’re buying raspberry plants, buy them from a reputable source,
like a nursery that has certified plants that are virus- indexed. Don’t be digging up
plants from the neighbors’ or the woods, because these will have disease issues and
will not lead to a satisfactory crop. Start with good plants, pick a nice, hardy variety
and enjoy your raspberries.