Rubus idaeus Heritage - Raspberry

The Heritage Raspberry is a perpetual variety, producing firm and delicious red fruits of medium size that are easy to pick. It is a vigorous and highly productive variety. Plant from October to March, for a harvest in June and again from August to October.

The Raspberry Heritage produces firm, delicious fruits of medium size. To fully enjoy their flavour, raspberries should be consumed quickly after picking, as they do not keep well. If you have a plentiful harvest, consider making coulis, sorbets, pies or jams. You can also freeze them. Production reaches its height in the third year after planting. One plant can produce fruits for around 10 years.

The Heritage variety is a cultivar originating from the United States. It is highly a productive and vigorous perpetual variety. There are perpetual varieties, producing fruit in June on the previous year's branches and then from August to October on the current years branches and non-perpetual varieties whose abundant harvest takes place around June - July.

The Raspberry is a deciduous shrub with upright stems, forming a bush of about 1.50m (4.9ft) in all directions over time. The stems or canes are biennial, each one dying after fruiting. Every year, suckers emerge from its roots, new, slightly prickly, canes. The Raspberry has green leaves on the top, white-green and furry on the underside. The flowering is highly attractive to bees. The white flowers are small (1 to 2cm (0.8in) in diameter), grouped in clusters of 10 to 12, and appear in April-May. The fruits are formed of small berries which are easy to detach when ripe.

The Raspberry belongs to the Rosaceae family, like strawberries, blackberries and wild roses. The wild raspberry is native to Europe and temperate Asia, where it grows in cool climates alongside elderberry, beech or rowan, mostly in mountainous undergrowth, but also in plains.