Hi all, I’m fairly new here, but I’m practically a fruititarian lol. Love fruit.
Anyway, I’m at the beginning of a new raspberry breeding project. Usually i can be found on the alan bishop homegrown goodness or open source OSSI plant breeding forums working on various breeding projects, Like watermelon.
Anyway, the species that will be the main species i want to use is Rubus deliciosus, a native raspberry to my area. And delicious it is. I had one berry and it literally was the most delicious raspberry I’ve ever had in my life!
The problem is that for any good plant breeding project the more genetic diversity you have the better recombinat offspring you can select from. You can’t select good genetics if they aren’t there to begin with. Thus i am desperateley looking for someone in Arizona or New Mexico to help me find and ship a plant of Rubus neomexicanus to Colorado. It is a highly related subspecies.
I have already bought Rubus ‘benenden’ from Washington, a hybrid between Rubus deliciosus and Rubus trilobus. A hybrid popular in the UK.
Yeah, i don’t know about heat tolerance of Rubus deliciosus. It likes zone 5 and handles arid dry conditions. Though since Rubus neomexicanus is a sub species they both may have that ability.
Rubus ‘Benenden’ is a hybrid with a south american species “Rubus trilobus” which apparently likes wetter conditions, though may also take heat. Though I’m not sure where in south america.
If anyone is in the Arizona, New Mexico, South Utah, Southern Wyoming, or Colorado areas I am interested in help collecting diverse genetics for either Rubus deliciosus or Rubus neomexicanus (a subspecies). I figure if you are in Arizona, S. Utah, or New Mexico it is probably most likely Rubus neomexicanus and if you are in Colorado or Wyoming then it is Rubus deliciousus.
I have GPS coordiinates for those who are able to help. You can import these Excel files into “my google maps” https://www.google.com/maps/d/.
But basically I need help from people who are willing to go out and collect either seed samples or cuttings (hopefully with some roots) for collection. The best time to go looking for these plants is going to be in May-June when they are in full flower. I have edited the original post in this thread to include some photos. The leaves are very soft with rounded edges usually and often resemble strawberry leaves or currant / gooseberry leaves. They are usually long branched with 5ft long arching branches and have no spines with a reddish underbark. The flowers are large and similar to a wild rose flower but white.
Briefly, but i sadly wasn’t apt enough to keep it alive. I still need help getting a specimen. But i do have a seeding of Rubus bartonianus growing well.
This site lists Rubus neomexicanus, among others. They fellow who runs it is active on tropicalfruitforum under the handle Brian laufer and is pretty good about answering questions.
I’m at the (very) beginning of a similar project, though here in a very humid and hot z8, my goals are pretty modest: a good raspberry that won’t just sputter out and die here.
