My preferred cultivars were difficult to obtain. They’re obscure and some may not be offered in the US nursery trade. I sought them out because I wanted superior fruit from something hardy in Fairbanks, Alaska. They’re all floricanes.
Yellow: Honey Queen, bred by Robert Erskine, Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. Super hardy and productive. Berries large, mild and sweet. Very thorny; foliage bright lime green.
Red: Anelma. Bred in Finland and released in 1959. Has arctic raspberry in its lineage. Berries large and the mildest and sweetest of all; most pleasant to eat out of hand. They’re not tart, but neither are they insipid, possessing a deep and rich raspberry flavor. I also have Heisa and Heija, which are similar “Nectar Raspberries” from Finland with arctic raspberry genetics. Only Heisa has fruited; flavor similar to Anelma but berries smaller (although more abundant). I had to obtain all these from the USDA germplasm repository as root cuttings.
Purple: Wyoming. Another acquisition from the germplasm repository, after a 20+ year search. It hasn’t been available there now for several years, so I was lucky to get it. It’s sold in Canada, but I’ve never seen marketed in the US. The plants are monsters, with big branching canes that can be 12+ feet long. Berries are small but abundant and excellent. The only purple I’ve compared it with is Royalty (which was marginal at best and eventually winterkilled), and even though they were half the size, they were far better tasting.