hey folks. i was looking at my nursery sources and remembered people on here in the south had difficulty finding a raspberry cultivar that could grow well or even survive. i came across Dorman raspberry from penseberryfarm.com its hardy to z7-9. don’t know anything about it but i thought some of you that like raspberries would like to know about this.
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I’ve never tried it…but I understand most in North Carolina who grow raspberries know about it.
Apparently not up to par in the taste department.
I’m in North Mississippi and have grown several varieties but Prelude is by far my favorite and best producer.
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I’m in zone 8a and grow Caroline. The fall crop isn’t great, but the spring/summer harvest is nice. I was advised to grow everbearing varieties by a local grower. My friend who grew up in the north with raspberries says they taste like her childhood, but I find them kind of intense and tart. Then again, my favorite raspberry is Royalty (purple). 
and i find royalty bland. ill mix it in with my other more tart rasps and its good.
Hi, I live in Spain and raspberries dry in the heat. On the other hand, Tayberry style hybrids are good for me
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Most likely this is the case. I live in NC and just yesterday attended a NC Extension field class on Blackberries. The speaker, a bramble researcher at NC State University, was asked about growing raspberries in our area (zone 7b). Her reply was that cultivars like Dorman Red can be grown here, but they taste terrible. Said something about the cultivars crossed to produce Dorman Red brought in the cold tolerance, but also brought in the poor taste.
Edited to add the following.
At the talk she also said that raspberries don’t photosynthesize well at high temperatures and that this contributes to their poor performance in the south. I did a search and found this study by her which supports her statement.
“Photosynthetic rates of primocane and floricane leaves were very sensitive to temperature, exhibiting a decline from 15 to 40C.”
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Try shade cloth. Our extension fruit lab here has 30% shade cloth over raspberries, and they were able to get a harvest last year. The plants were lush and healthy under the cloth. Maybe a bit too lush.
It’s only the first year of production though.
They have “Heritage”, “Caroline”, “Prelude”, “Kilaney”, “Double Gold” as well as a couple others out there. The “Anne” variety died. I don’t think they tried “dorman”.
Very interesting. The study I cited earlier seems to support this.
Figures 3 and 4 from the study are shown below. Figure 3 shows how the photosynthetic rate of raspberry leaves increases as light intensity increases. This rate plateaus rather quickly at lower light levels. Using this website I found that the approximate maximum light level in central texas (Vault22dweller’s location, latitude ~32 degrees) is around 1060 PPF, which is on the right (bright) side of the graph, well into the plateau.
Figure 4 shows how the rate of raspberry leaf photosynthesis decreases as leaf temperature increases.
With this in mind it seems logical to conclude that a shade cloth (allowing a light level of at least 400-500 PPF ) might keep the leaves cool enough to allow adequate photosynthesis and perhaps, good production and taste. Certainly worth a try.
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BerryGuy, I was just going to say that wild raspberries grow mostly in the shade in zone 6-7.
But I see Vault22dweller beat me to it.
Plant in part shade (or use shade cloth).
Note: the blackcap raspberries are totally tolerant of juglone and black walnuts…a perfect shady place to plant them.
Yep, makes perfect sense to grow raspberries out of the intense sunlight, just as they grow in nature. I find it interesting that science can explain why they succeed where they are found in nature, on the forest edge where the light is less intense and the temperature is cooler.
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‘Nantahala’, a red everbearer, is supposed to be a good rasp for the NC area. It ripens later than most other varieties, though.
https://indianaberry.com/products/details/244/Nantahala_Red
https://backyardberryplants.com/product/nantahala-primocane-producing-organic-red-raspberry-plant/
.
For those living in the warmer parts of NC, I wouldn’t get my hopes up just yet. Here’s some info I found on Nantahala: Southeast Farm Press.
Nantahala will play its biggest role on farms in the higher elevation areas of North Carolina and adjacent states.
But it is not well adapted to heat.
Here’s a article from HortScience written by the folks at NC State that released Nantahala.
‘Nantahala’ is recommended for the
mountain regions of North Carolina and
adjacent states.
On the other hand I planted a few bare root Niwot black raspberries last spring next to my blackberries in near full sun. I neglected to tip them last summer so I don’t expect a large amount of fruit. They seem to be doing well, are ripening now with new canes growing. Hopefully I’ll remember to tip them and get a good fall crop.
Next year will be the year that I can get a better feel for how they do here in north central North Carolina (7b). They produced great at my prior (5b) location before moving here a few years ago.
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I thought about getting Nantahala, but it’s a very late season berry, so it may not do well here. I had read about it doing better in the higher elevation locations.
I only have one red everbearer, Caroline, and two yellows, Anne and Fall Gold. All the rest are technically summer bearers (4 reds, 2 blacks). This ought to be our first substantial rasp (and blackberry) harvest this year. Are you growing blackberries?
Where were you before? Going from 5b to 7b is quite a change.
Yes, I have Von, Osage, Oauchita, and Natchez - now all loaded with fruit in their third season. Even after losing about half of the canes to borers I am amazed how much fruit I’ll have - if the Japanese Beetles don’t destroy them! I put down beneficial nematodes and Milky Spore last year, though I’m somewhat doubtful that it will help. I have some row cover to use if needed, so there will be berries to pick soon.
I was in the Chicago area before heading south 3 years ago. Yes, it was quite a change. The growing season here is about 2 months longer and the winters (if you can call them that) are very mild. January and February are great months for doing outdoor work. Up north - forget about it!
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Cool.
How would you rate them? I have the middle two, along with Freedom, Traveler and Triple Crown. Late freezes fried some of the early blooms, but more are coming. TC is just now starting to push some blooms.
JB are awful here when they strike, they hit my three pluots hard, and also get after my Romeo and Juliet cherries and a few apples. They don’t really mess with the blackberries.
We moved from the Dallas area (zone 8a) to here 6 years ago, so I have to deal with real winters now, but at least we don’t get 100+ degree days for weeks at a time. Although it gets plenty humid, like today.
They’re only in their third season, but my observations/recollections are:
Natchez - large cylindrical berries with small seeds, taste great. Didn’t push up very many canes, so cane losses to borers hurt. It’s a trailing variety, so the canes that do survive grow very long and produce lots of fruit.
Osage: Lots and lots of fruit! First to flower and develop fruit. good berries
Ouachita: Similar to Osage, but maybe fewer fruit and a bit later.
Von: The last to flower and ripen fruit. Haven’t had a good harvest yet as last year very few flowers developed fruit. I posted about that here last year. Von Blackberry This year they have an abundance of fruit, though not as much as the others.
I feel your pain with the JBs. They sure do have their preferred foods. Here roses are their favorite, then Romeo and Juliet, then blackberries, then grapes. I’m tempted to plant more roses a distance from my fruit with the hope that the JBs will feed there instead. With my luck that idea will backfire and it’ll just attract more JBs which will make even more for next year. 
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Wineberries (folks around here calls them “wild red raspberries”) are everywhere. They can be rather invasive, kind of like the “native” wild blackberries (Rubus armeniacus). The wild blackberries have a decent fresh eating taste, although the hybrid named varieties I tend to like better. Red raspberries though, perhaps I’ve just not tried a good one. Haven’t seen one yet that holds a candle to the intense taste of a wild wineberry. Similar for black raspberries, all I’ve tasted (not many varieties) are just about identical to the native wild ones.
So is this typical or have others found the hybrid named varieties of red/black raspberries to be superior to wild ones? Or I suppose I could ask how prevalent they are for everyone else… Tons of them everywhere you turn or not so much?
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I don’t have any experience with wild red raspberries, but have picked loads of black ones. To me they taste similar to reds, but a little sweeter.
Several years ago I planted Niwot black raspberry and was pleasantly surprised with my first taste. Totally different than both reds and wild blacks. They have that unique black (or maybe blue) raspberry flavor that I remember from some candy, drink or popsicle from my childhood. At least for me the Niwot black raspberry is nothing like red raspberry or black raspberry. Not better or worse, but pleasantly different.
Interesting, thanks… Will have to check those out.