Growing Salmonberry on the East Coast

General Fruit Growing
1

Has anyone had experience growing salmonberry on the east coast (esp. zone 5/6 northern Appalachian states)? As far as I understand, they would be fine cold hardiness wise, but I do not know how they would be with our humidity and summer climate. Thanks :blush:

2 Likes
2

I highly recommend only planting salmonberry within its native range. It can spread much more aggressively in garden settings and you are very likely to regret planting it. The fruit are decent, but not worth the management issues.

5 Likes
4

Thank you for the reply! I was planning on having them in a row in our field alongside our other berries, but I did not think that it would be particularly invasive here like how wineberry is.

5

It spreads like raspberries, but with woodier roots and canes. Very hard to manage when it starts popping up between other plants.

1 Like
6

I have tried them a few times. They didn’t grow well for me and never fruited. They leafed out but never put on any new growth. I’m in 7A/B

2 Likes
7

You’re probably in too cold a zone, but for a lot of people on the east coast a decent substitute would be Taiwan creeping bramble, Rubus rolfei or Rubus calycinoides (may or may not be the same thing) also known as creeping raspberry.

It’s hardy in zones 7-9. Berries are quite good in my experience.

image
image800×599 114 KB

6 Likes
8

Thanks! I do have one plant to see how they do - I may be able to do a straw cover over the winter. :slight_smile: Any idea how they taste?

9

It’s a subtropical species, though a montane one. Zone 5/6 sounds like a gamble even with passive protection, but yeah, straw will help. It’s an evergreen species so winter desiccation is one of the concerns.

I’ve only had them once so far. They taste pleasant, I’d say mild, more or less like a raspberry, a bit of acidity and a bit of sweetness. They won’t blow you away but they are very pleasant and refreshing. Small berries but very small seeds to make up for it.

4 Likes
10

I would love to have one of the large fruited varients of it if it can grow vigorously here and do some crosses with with other raspberries or blackberries to increase productivity (and thornlessness and primocane).

Edit- they actually are thornless.

2 Likes
11

@CoalRidge I can’t speak to growing them on the East Coast, but I have eaten them in their native range near the coast in Northern California among the giant redwoods and in Alaska as well. They are refreshing and beautiful, but not overly flavorful or productive, in my experience. Not like wild blackberries here in CA which provide bountiful, sweet, plump berries. I have been trying to find a place that sells and ships salmonberries for two seasons to grow them in my yard for wildlife but have not had success yet.

1 Like
12

@gold_country_grower I have seen a few live plants for sale on Etsy from folks in the PNW

1 Like
13

I’ve never purchased live plants or seeds on Etsy before… I guess I’m just wary that I won’t get a quality product from a reputable source. Maybe it is time to try. But I have ordered several times from Fruitwood Nursery in Northern CA and they are fantastic and so is their shipping.

2 Likes
14

Native Foods Nursery sells them. As does Burnt Ridge. That is where I bought them from.

4 Likes
15

salmonberry is invasive in the UK and tastes very bland and sometimes slightly bitter. It’s real advantage is that it is early. I think that it is plenty cold tolerant with enough snow cover considering that it grows wild in anchorage alaska, and escaped in iceland.

4 Likes