Native Plants

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A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Saturday - April 28, 2012

From: Wathena, KS
Region: Midwest
Topic: Edible Plants
Title: Raspberries in KS
Answered by: Anne Bossart

QUESTION:

A friend told me that when he planted golden raspberries next to red and black-raspberries that the golden raspberries did not produce any fruit. He was told that when planted near each other, the golden raspberries messed up the process of pollination. Is this true, or could there be another reason? How far apart would you suggest planting the golden raspberries from the others?

ANSWER:

Although there are many raspberry and blackberry (Rubus) plants that are native to North America and are an important food source for our birds and bees, most of the raspberry plants that are cultivated for fruit production are Eurasian species and varieties.

That makes your question somewhat outside our area of expertise and we recommend you contact your local County Agricultural Extension Service. They will have Master Gardeners that can either answer your question or help you find resources. If you perform an internet search, you will find much information about raspberries and how to grow them in articles like these on eHow.com that have links to other extension service information pages.