Sweet and sour raspberries are a rather rare type of decorative raspberry with large berries, sweet and sour in taste, which, oddly enough, are edible (though not for everyone). This lush bush with pinkish-crimson flowers continues to delight with its flowering right up to mid-autumn, not only the owners of the site, but also the neighbors. Many of them sometimes do not even know how this plant is properly called. Some call this variety California, others raspberry, and others simply Siberian. Fragrant raspberry feels like a queen on the plot, and other perennials feel like Cinderellas in comparison with it, because, growing, it occupies almost the entire place on an elegant flower bed in front of the "hacienda".
Let's get to know this exotic better
Despite the fact that many have recognized this ornamental raspberry as a "Siberian", in fairness it must be said that it comes from North America (Oregon). Her character is "Nordic", as she grows on mountain slopes overgrown with forest, and nothing is done to her. The height of the bush in wildlife is more than 2 meters, and in "captivity" - about 1.5 meters (sometimes, however, there are overgrowths). Cultivation of fragrant raspberries begancarried out from the end of the 18th century (as scientists say), but it was brought to Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. It turned out that the plant is so unpretentious that it can grow everywhere.
Today, raspberry is a rare guest in garden plots, more often this ornamental plant can be seen in squares, parks or private gardens. It's just that with the word "raspberry" few people have the idea of the possibility of using it to decorate the site. But raspberry is exactly the case when stereotypes are broken.
Fragrant raspberry: description and characteristics of the plant
This ornamental raspberry species is a deciduous subshrub whose crown diameter largely exceeds its height; crown shape - vertical, with slightly hanging branches. The root system is a flat, long, slightly branched roots.
Sweet raspberry (Rubacer odoratus) is the closest relative of common raspberry (Rubus idaeus), which can be found in any household plot. Both of them belong to the Rosaceae family. The only difference is the fact that the Siberian raspberry belongs to the genus Rubacer.
Raspberry fragrant or raspberry blooms for a very long time: from the end of May to August, the plant pleases its owners, exuding a fragrant aroma.
In our latitudes, a plant needs cross-pollination to set fruit. That is, if you decide to plant a raspberry tree and want to get fruits, then next toraspberries "boy" must be planted raspberries "girl".
Note! Don't waste time pollinating flowers by hand. It won't help.
As for the varieties of fragrant raspberries, it does not yet have its own varieties, but breeders from different countries (England, Russia, Canada) are working in this direction. Raspberry flowers are either white (f. Albus) or light pink (Tridel).
The bark and branches of the plant
The old shoots of the shrub are shiny, smooth, brown and thornless branches (they die off by a third in winter), and the young ones are hairy and glandular branches. Moreover, young shoots have a very pleasant aroma. The growing season is about seven months (April to October).
What about leaves
The unusually large leaves of fragrant raspberries (sometimes reaching a width of 30 cm) bear a striking resemblance to Canadian maple leaves: that is why it got its name - raspberry. The leaves are dark green in summer and yellow in autumn. A characteristic feature of leaf blades, pedicels, petioles and young shoots is their pubescence. As a result, at the slightest touch, a powerful release of essential oils occurs, which leads to an increase in aroma around the plant.
Plant flowers: what are they
If the raspberry is ordinary, garden, has rather nondescript flowers, then the fragrant raspberry is a completely different matter. Its main advantage is very large inflorescences (up to 5-6cm in diameter), white or light pink, with a delicious aroma. You can see them already at the beginning of summer on the shoots of the second year. On the shoots of the current year (after pruning the branches of the previous year in early spring), the flowers appear later (in July), but they are larger and brighter. Abundant flowering lasts all summer, until autumn frosts.
Fruits
After flowering on the bushes of maple-leaved fragrant raspberry (at the end of July), completely inconspicuous-looking berries of light crimson color appear. Their diameter is about 2 cm, flat in shape and medium-sized, edible, but sour. That is, if raspberries are lucky with flowers, then they are not very lucky with fruits. The only connoisseurs of raspberries are birds, who eat them with great pleasure.
The advantages of raspberry berries include:
- the fact that their skin is thinner than that of ordinary raspberries;
- have diaphoretic properties and are extremely useful for colds;
- jam from them is spicy.
By the way, raspberries begin to bloom and bear fruit at the age of 5-6 years.
Let's try to plant raspberries
To properly plant fragrant raspberry seedlings, we do this:
- dig a hole (40 cm wide, 40 cm long and 35-40 cm deep);
- fill it with rotted manure, compost (50-100 g) and a teaspoon of any complex fertilizer (ash is notworth adding, as raspberries love slightly acidic and alkaline soils);
- spill with water;
- install a seedling in the hole (we deepen it by no more than 20 cm);
- dig in with earth and compact the soil;
- spill with plenty of water;
- mulch with non-acidic peat or humus (layer 4-5 cm).
Note! Landings can be made both in the spring and in the autumn. Since raspberry is a light-loving plant, it is better to choose a sunny place for planting. If you are planting several seedlings, then plant them at a distance of 45-55 cm from each other.
Care instructions
Raspberry does not require much care, but there are a number of recommendations that you should listen to:
- Soils. Raspberries are not particularly demanding on soils, but they prefer loose, non-acidified and humus-rich soils that do not have to be constantly loosened.
- Light. It tolerates penumbra well, but if we put it in the sun, we will only be grateful.
- Water. Does not need frequent watering: once a week is enough, but plentiful.
Advice! It is necessary to water under the root.
Feeding. The plant grows rapidly and responds well to fertilizers, which can be applied only 2 times a year: at the beginning of growth (we add humus under the bushes) and at the beginning of fruiting. You can feed with urea or s altpeter (at the rate of 60-70 g per 1 m²)
Advice! As a preventive measure, once every 3 weeks, it is necessary to water the plant with nettle infusion.
- Cropping. The weakest shootslast year (which are thinner than a simple pencil) we cut off in early spring. In shoots that are thicker, we cut off the tops that have already borne fruit (we cut where the thickness of the shoot is 5 mm). At the end of August, we cut off the dying and late shoots of the current year, which were formed from the root.
- Shelter for the winter: not required, as the plant tolerates frost very well. In the spring, we inspect the shoots and cut off all dead ones.
- Diseases and pests. If the plant is damaged by a spider mite, we cut off the damaged leaves and burn them (infusions and decoctions of garlic or tomato tops help poorly).
As you can see from the above, planting fragrant raspberries and caring for them are simple.
Reproduction
There are several ways to propagate fragrant raspberries:
- seeds;
- by dividing the bush (that is, with green cuttings);
- root growth.
The simplest, and therefore more popular, is the separation of root offspring (each bush gives them about 4-6 pieces) and planting them on a prepared site. You can also reproduce with the help of seeds: we crush ripe berries, take out the seeds and sow them in the ground.
Virtues of fragrant raspberries
Raspberry has a number of advantages:
- frost resistance;
- low maintenance;
- resistance to pests and diseases;
- drought-resistant;
- the possibility of obtaining completely edible fruits at the same time as decorative;
- shade tolerance.
In closing
Someone, of course, can say that fragrant raspberries are beautiful, but useless. One can argue with this, remembering the famous saying that only beauty will save the world. Also, not everything beautiful has to be useful.
Note! When planting raspberries, be on the lookout. The fact is that this plant is quite aggressive in terms of the fact that it grows too rapidly and quickly conquers more and more new territories. Therefore, keep this process under control.
