@rubus_chief … if you have mild flavor sweet berries… you need a loganberry to mix with them.
The best jam i have ever made was about 90% black rasp… 10% logans… 100% awesome.
I have 2 Royalty now… started this spring… looking good. If they are mild here… will mix them with logans.
As far as i know im the only soul that has ever talked about them outside of North Dakota… at least on the internet. Maybe in a book or pamphlet somewhere.
I had an unusual amount of rain when they were ripening… i also had some red rasps that were watery to me that ripened the same time. Also i noted that my Jewel was kind of bland this year…same window.
The ripening time for me was late June, early July…whereas in ND they ripen mid August or later.
I wasnt prepared for them being as productive as they were on their first year of Floricanes. They grew insanely well… 3X as much as Wyoming which i have 1 row over. Wyoming is known to be very vigorous… Amethyst is extremely vigorous. My glencoes are subpar vigorous and they are 20 feet away. Royalty is vigorous…but nothing near Amethyst. Amethyst would win in a competition vs Triple Crown i think.
The berry size of Amethyst is large… and its super productive… next year will tell on the flavor for me. But in ND its known to taste ‘fantastic’…which did not happen for me this year.
Wyoming is known to have an extremely good tasting berry…but they are small and can be crumbly if left to overripen. Again i am probably the only soul south of ND to grow it… its been in Canada for a long time…also in Alaska. If not for Victor in AK we wouldnt have it down here.
Hartmann’s virus indexed Amethyst for Jim… and i think they made a deal with Canada behind everyones backs. Because now its being sold in Canada. Which Jim says its ok… he wants everyone that wants to grow it to be able to.
I kind of think that Hartmanns will sell Amethyst eventually… thats kind of what they do.
My Wyomings are ripe; super sweet and very rich. Excellent fresh eating. I also have a few berries on Amethyst. They’re way behind Wyoming and look like they’ll be substantially larger. Some of the Wyomings are overripe, but Amethyst is just starting to turn. The photos are Wyoming; this is a pretty weak specimen, but still cranking out some nice fruit. Well-grown canes grow more than 12’ long up here and are very productive.
@steveb4 … i started 2 purple royalty last spring and they grew into some large stout canes… I tipped them at 4 ft and they sent out some nice fruiting laterals.
Just recently pruned and tied all my raspberry canes for the spring crop… and many varieties suffered some tip die back this winter… the whole top half of my joan J died… my new bristol blacks suffered some significant tip die back too.
Purple royalty was the only variety that remained good all the way to the tips of the fruiting laterals.
They are not only big stout canes that develop some nice fruiting laterals after tipping… but they are very hardy/tuf canes surviving very well when others did not do so well.
Hope I like them… will definately propigate many of those if I do.
TNHuntsr
they aren’t the best for fresh eating but are great processed and easily 3xs more productive than other raspberries. surprising about the other 2 as both have survived -40 here with no damage. im thinking your rich soil didn’t allow them to go dormant completely and harden off? just a guess as raspberries here grow great with no amendments in my shitty clay soil. if im right next year should be better for them.
@steveb4 …we had some long hot and dry late last summer … and many of my primocanes that came up last year… died or partially died… but in the fall sent up growth from down lower on the primocane… yes they did something odd last year…
You know raspberries dont grow here (we have no native raspberries). So I am sort of forcing them to grow in conditions that everyonce in a while is just too extreme.e for them…
I think last summer was a little brutal on most of them… but the Purple Royalty did just fine.
I may end up getting rid of loganberry and replacing them with Purple Royalty.
Logan canes die completely around 2-3 F
Purple Royalty were not damaged at all at 2-3F.
They both produce a large tart berry and lots of them … that is probably only sweet within a few hours of spoiling.
Those tart berries when mixed with sweeter reds, golds or blacks… improves the mix significantly.
I know that is true of logans. Hope so on PR.
My Logans also quite often get the red neck cane borer (happened againl last year)… and wipes them out. Between 3F die off and cane borers… looks like my run with loganberries is going to be over soon.
i also mix mine in with my reds. the cane borer we have rarely touches royalty here and they are planted right next to my reds that get pounded by them. lots of thick mulch should help keep their roots cooler in hot weather.
I don’t think royalty cares one bit about above zero temperatures. It’s been pretty reliable for me in 5b for several years, dealing with -10 and lower regularly.
I’ve unfortunately been disappointed with the flavor. I like my raspberries tart, and royalty has not been that for me. But neither has joan J. Other varieties like Prelude and Killarney have delivered better on tartness for me.
mine survived -40f with no injury.
Im rooting Clyde Purple Raspberry, Purple Dream and Sodus purple Raspberry now… no clue if they will be any good.
Not much info about them on the web as they are gone from the market.
Sodus - Most popular purple variety. Large, tart berries ripening later than most reds and purples. Vigorous plants suitable to all hardiness zones.
Clyde - Extra large, firm, glossy dark purple berries, ripening in mid-season. Very vigorous, hardy, disease resistant plants.
Purple Dream - Large to very large. Purple Dream is one of the largest purple raspberries available. When ripe, it’s soft purple in color, has a light fresh taste and is ideal for making an outstanding jam. High yielding and cold-hardy.
I love purple raspberries, and while ‘Glen Coe’ is a sprawling mess, it sure is tasty.
I picked up a new (to me) variety last month called ‘Autumn Passion’, marketed also under the Primeberry brand in parts of the EU. I’d never come across it before, so I’m wondering if it’s new to the market here in the UK.
I’ll keep everyone updated on how it does!
