Category: Purple-flowering Raspberry

Raspberry Awakening

So many native perennials sprouting their leaves as if little alarm clocks have gone off telling the plants to wake up. One of them, Purple-flowering Raspberry (Rubus odoratus), sending out its maple-like, very crinkled, serrated leaves. It is native to the eastern United States

By late May bristly buds appear. The stems and branches of the plant are also hairy/bristly but have no thorns.

Blooms arrive by mid-June in the woods in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Often singly, sometimes two or three blossoms together. The drupes or berries are edible but it is debatable whether they have a good flavor. I chose to leave the drupes for the birds and animals that enjoy them.

It’s a great kick to find these flowers in the woods. A lovely bright color for a native plant.

Purple-flowered Raspberry

I had no idea such a thing existed. A raspberry bush with such pretty flowers. Raspberry blossoms of a bright magenta rather than white. Being up on Skyline Drive at just the right time, during bloom time revealed this unusual plant to me. Purple-flowered Raspberry (Rubus odoratus).

Since it was growing in Shenandoah National Park, I knew it was native to this area. Sure enough it is a native deciduous perennial of Eastern North America. That was a signal to me. Get that plant for at least one of your gardens!

Now I have small bushes, still growing, getting bigger. They could possibly grow to be six feet tall and twelve feet across.

Autumn turns the leaves that resemble maple leaves into a golden hue. And surely you are wondering about the raspberries themselves. That is the downside of this bush. At least for humans. Everywhere I find the raspberries described as “insipid” or “somewhat dry, crumbly and unappetizing” but that is offset by the fact that the bushes are helpful to many birds, both game birds and songbirds. It’s also beneficial to butterflies and bees, and mammals both large and small. A good one to have.