Raspberries are delicious with their sweet, tart flavor and fragrant scent. However, raspberries also boast beautiful flowers and fruit of all colors.
So, what colors do raspberries come in? Raspberries are available in red, yellow, pink, purple, and black colors. Different raspberry varieties will also vary in fruit size, harvest time, cold tolerance, and disease resistance.
Of course, you can grow many different raspberry varieties with all sorts of fruit colors. If you grow them close together, you might end up with hybrid plants a few years down the road.
In this article, we’ll look at some raspberry varieties of each color. We’ll also look at their cold tolerance, zone hardiness, fruit size, and harvest times.
Let’s get started.
What Colors Do Raspberries Come In?
Raspberries come in all sorts of different colors, including:
- Red
- Yellow
- Pink
- Purple
- Black
The harvest time can vary quite a bit, from June to September (or even until frost!) Some raspberry varieties are everbearing, which means that they produce fruit twice a year: in summer and fall.
Some of them are summer bearing, while others are everbearing. Some are extremely cold-tolerant, hardy as far north as Zone 3.
Some produce small, firm berries, while others produce large berries that fill your bowl quickly.
We’ll start off by taking a look at the most common color of raspberry: red.
Red Raspberries
Red raspberries are a classic: they are the color you are most familiar with, and the one you usually see at the grocery store. Since red is the most common color for raspberry fruit, there are lots of different varieties in this category.
You should be able to find something you like in a seed catalog, but here is a sample of red raspberry varieties to get you started:
- Encore – this summer bearing variety produces large red raspberries in late July to early August. The plant tolerates both heat and cold and is hardy in Zones 4 to 9. It also resists root rot. You can find Encore raspberry plants from Stark Brothers.
- Heritage – this everbearing variety produces medium red raspberries in July and September. The plant tolerates cold and is hardy in Zones 4 to 8. You can find Heritage raspberry plants from Stark Brothers.
- Killarney – this summer bearing variety produces medium red raspberries in July and August. The berries are sweeter than most other red raspberries. The plant tolerates cold and is hardy in Zones 4 to 8. You can find Killarney raspberry plants from Stark Brothers.
- Latham – this summer bearing variety produces large red raspberries in mid-July. The plant tolerates cold and is hardy in Zones 3 to 8. You can find Latham raspberry plants from Stark Brothers.
- Mammoth Red – this summer bearing variety produces large red raspberries in mid-June to early July. The plant tolerates cold and is hardy in Zones 4 to 8. You can find Mammoth Red raspberry plants from Gurneys.
- Prelude – this everbearing variety produces medium to large red raspberries in July and September. The plant tolerates cold and is hardy in Zones 4 to 8. It also resists Phytophthora root rot. You can find Prelude raspberry plants from Stark Brothers.
Yellow Raspberries (Golden Raspberries)
Yellow raspberries (or golden raspberries) are real, and they are edible. Yellow raspberries are sweeter than red raspberries, with a less tart flavor.
However, many people have never seen them, since they are much less common than red raspberries. Even so, there are still quite a few yellow raspberry varieties available.
A seed catalog or online search should help you to find some yellow raspberry varieties you might enjoy growing, but here is a list of yellow raspberry varieties to start with:
- Anne – this everbearing variety produces large yellow raspberries in July and September. The plant tolerates both cold and heat, and it is hardy in Zones 4 to 9. You can find Anne raspberry plants from Stark Brothers.
- Cascade Gold – this summer bearing variety produces medium yellow raspberries in June or July. The plant is disease resistant and hardy in Zones 4 to 9. You can find Fall Gold raspberry plants from One Green World.
- Fall Gold – this everbearing variety produces medium yellow raspberries twice a year, in summer and fall. The plant is hardy in Zones 4 to 8. You can find Fall Gold raspberry plants from Burpee.
- Golden Harvest – this summer bearing variety produces medium yellow raspberries in summer. The plant is hardy in Zones 2 to 10. You can find Golden Harvest raspberry seeds from Rare Seed House.
- Honey Queen – this everbearing variety produces medium yellow raspberries twice a year, in June and August. The plant is disease resistant and hardy up to Zone 3. You can find Honey Queen raspberry plants from One Green World.
- Kiwi Gold – this summer bearing variety produces medium yellow raspberries in early August. Discovered in New Zealand, the plant is disease-resistant and hardy in Zones 5 to 8. You can find Kiwi Gold raspberry plants from Stark Brothers.
Pink Raspberries
Pink raspberries are rare, but they are edible like any other raspberries. In fact, they are so rare that I was only able to track down one variety that has pink to orange fruit:
- Double Gold – this everbearing variety produces medium pink or orange raspberries in July and September. The plant tolerates cold, and it is hardy in Zones 4 to 8. It also resists Phytophthora root rot. You can find Double Gold raspberry plants from Stark Brothers.
Purple Raspberries
Purple raspberries a hybrid variety, formed by crossing red raspberries and black raspberries. You might end up with purple raspberries in a few years if you grow red and black raspberries close together.
Purple raspberries have a tarter flavor than red raspberries. However, they are still delicious, with a nice bit of sweetness.
Purple raspberries may not be commonly available in grocery stores, but you might be able to find them at a farmer’s market or roadside stand. If not, don’t worry – you can grow them yourself!
A seed catalog will sometimes have some purple raspberry varieties for you to try, but just in case that search is fruitless, here is a list of purple raspberry varieties to start with:
- Brandywine – this everbearing variety produces large to extra-large purple raspberries in July and September. The plant tolerates cold, and it is hardy in Zones 4 to 8. You can find Brandywine raspberry plants from Stark Brothers.
- Crimson Night – this everbearing variety produces medium to large purple raspberries in June and September. The plant tolerates cold, and it is hardy in Zones 4 to 8. It also resists Phytophthora root rot. You can find Crimson Night raspberry plants from Stark Brothers.
- Glencoe – this summer bearing variety produces medium purple raspberries in early summer. The plant tolerates heat, and it is hardy in Zones 4 to 8. You can find Glencoe raspberry plants from Berries Unlimited.
- Royalty – this everbearing variety produces small purple raspberries in midsummer. The plant tolerates cold, and it is hardy in Zones 4 to 8. You can find Royalty raspberry plants from Wayside Gardens.
Black Raspberries
Black raspberries have smaller fruit than the other colors of raspberries. However, don’t write them off just yet.
What black raspberries lack in size, they more than make up for in flavor. These tiny raspberries are tart with just enough sweetness to keep you eating handfuls at a time.
You might find black raspberries at a grocery store, but they are not as common as red raspberries. If you cannot find them, you can grow them instead.
Here are some black raspberry varieties to get you started (this list is not exhaustive):
- Allen – this summer bearing variety produces small black raspberries in July. The plant tolerates cold, and it is hardy in Zones 4 to 8. You can find Allen raspberry plants from Stark Brothers.
- Bristol – this summer bearing variety produces small black raspberries in July. The plant tolerates cold, and it is hardy in Zones 4 to 8. You can find Bristol raspberry plants from Stark Brothers.
- Cumberland – this summer bearing variety produces small black raspberries in September. The plant tolerates cold, and it is hardy in Zones 4 to 9. You can find Cumberland raspberry plants from Ison’s Nursery & Vineyards.
- Jewel – this summer bearing variety produces small black raspberries in early July. The plant is hardy in Zones 5 to 8. You can find Jewel raspberry plants from Stark Brothers.
- Munger – this summer bearing variety produces small black raspberries in August. The plant is hardy in Zones 4 to 8. You can find Munger raspberry plants from Stark Brothers.
- Niwot – this everbearing variety produces small black raspberries twice per year, in June and August. The plant tolerates cold, and it is hardy in Zones 5 to 8. You can find Niwot raspberry plants from Burpee.
Are There Blue Raspberries?
Unfortunately, there are no blue raspberries found in nature.
Science may be able to create blue raspberries with genetic modification, but nobody has bred any hybrid blue raspberries as of this writing.
Conclusion
Raspberries come in lots of different colors – if you can think of one, it almost certainly exists. All you really need to decide is when you want to harvest them and how much cold they need to be able to tolerate!
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If you want to read some of my most popular posts, check out the “Best of GreenUpSide” page here. Enjoy!
~Jonathon