It’s one of life’s great mysteries to me why everyone doesn’t grow raspberries. They’re so easy to care for (I literally do nothing except for cutting them down every year when they’re finished) and give you a daily supply of the best berries each summer.

Our growers are really big on raspberries, and they’re always experimenting with new varieties to find the most reliable, the sweetest, the easiest raspberries to grow or the most unusual, which of course we’re only too happy to pass on to you!

There are so many great raspberries to choose from, fruiting in summer or autumn, and even some that you can grow in pots. The downside of all this choice is that if you’re trying to choose your first raspberry plant, it can be a bit overwhelming. So where do you start?

I asked our growers for their recommendations, but be warned, they are a little bit biased…

Jump to:

• Best summer and autumn raspberries
• Largest raspberries
• Best for pots
• Best tasting
• Biggest crops
• Hardiest
• Easiest to grow
• Most unusual
• Can’t decide?
• Get growing

The best summer and autumn fruiting raspberry varieties

There are two different types of raspberry - summer fruiting and autumn fruiting. Summer fruiting varieties crop between June and August, and autumn fruiting varieties between August and October. You may also see some varieties described as ‘everbearing’. These are particularly long cropping raspberries which produce two crops in a season - the first in early summer and the second in late summer or early autumn. Which ones you choose will depend on when you want to harvest your crop, but many gardeners plant a few of both kinds so that they fruit in succession. According to our growers (and the RHS, who gave all of these an award), the best summer fruiting varieties are Glen Ample, Malling Admiral and Tulameen and the best autumn varieties include All Gold and Polka. Sometimes classed as an autumn fruiter and sometimes as an everbearer, the popular Joan J is also an AGM winner and a grower favourite.

Ultimately, the raspberry variety you choose is very much a matter of personal preference! We’ve rounded up some of the best in each category to help you choose.

The largest raspberry variety

Like your fruit on the XL side? Get a load of Paris, the raspberry that weighs between 5-6.5g. These big and beautiful berries are a light pink colour with a good firm texture that means they won’t turn mushy in a hurry and keep well. With heavy crops and excellent resistance to pests and diseases, these aromatic berries are reliable as well as irresistible. If you’re growing in pots, Paris is probably too vigorous a plant for you, so you should go for Joan J, which is a little more compact in its growth while still producing huge crops (2kg per plant) of big, tasty berries all the way from July to October.

The best raspberry for pots

Any raspberry plant can be grown in a pot provided that it’s at least 50cm deep and wide. 

You’ll also need to make sure your plant has adequate support, as most raspberry canes grow to at least a metre tall. Unfortunately these vigorous (tall) varieties of raspberry aren’t as productive in pots as they would be in the ground. For the best crop from a pot, you need a plant that’s specifically bred for the purpose, like Ruby Beauty (60 x 40cm) or Yummy (45 x 45cm). Both of these tasty, summer fruiting raspberries are super productive for their size, and look much nicer (and happier) in pots than a tall, straggling cane.

The best tasting raspberry

In my opinion, the best tasting raspberry is any that’s perfectly ripe and picked first thing in the morning on a sunny day, then eaten immediately. Less poetically inclined raspberry aficionados swear by Scottish raspberry varieties - maybe it’s something about the cold winters followed by hot summers (not forgetting the rain) that makes them taste so good? You can put this theory to the test with one of our growers’ best flavoured varieties, Glen Prosen, the award winning Glen Ample, or the super sweet Canadian variant Tulameen, which has Glen Ample as one of its parents.

The biggest raspberry crops

I’ve never known a raspberry plant that didn’t crop well, but you can never have too many! For bumper crops to fill your freezer or jam jars as well as your bowl, choose the heaviest fruiting varieties. These are widely considered to be autumn fruiting Polka, and summer fruiting Glen Ample and Tulameen.

For the longest cropping season, you could choose an everbearing variety such as Joan J or Autumn Bliss, that will fruit in early summer then again in late summer to early autumn. Another way to maximise that harvest is to plant both summer and autumn fruiting raspberries, which will give you a constant supply from June or July right through until October.

The most pest and disease resistant raspberry

Choose any raspberry variety and it’s very unlikely you’ll be troubled by pests and diseases. The most common problem with raspberries is mould or mildew caused by wet weather, but you can prevent this by planting them far enough apart for plenty of air and sunlight to circulate through the plants, and watering them at the base so excess water doesn’t stand on the foliage. 

Raspberries are very hardy plants which seem to suffer far less from pests than most (for starters, slugs are lazy and won’t usually climb that far up), but the Malling varieties are amongst the best for pest disease resistance - try famously flavoursome Malling Admiral or Malling Leo if your garden is prone to these kinds of problems. If you have an issue with aphids, on the other hand, Autumn Bliss is one of the most aphid resistant varieties out there - a combination of both sounds like a good insurance policy!

The easiest raspberry to grow

All raspberries are easy to grow, being hardy, vigorous and low maintenance plants. The biggest problem you’ll usually have to deal with is how to use up the excess fruit (you’ll want a good jam recipe).

The easiest of the easiest, however? It’s got to be Malling Admiral. It’s strong and reliable with excellent pest and disease resistance. You can expect to harvest a substantial crop between July and August with minimal input.

Cascade Delight is also a good option if your gardening conditions are less than ideal - it’ll grow anywhere.

The most unusual raspberry varieties

If (like us) you love growing weird and wonderful fruits that you couldn’t get from the shops, take a look at All Gold, a yellow raspberry that crops from August to October. It’s not just a novelty - hardy and reliable with a rich, sweet flavour, it’s so good it’s won the RHS Award of Garden Merit.

The same goes for purple raspberry Glencoe. With thornless stems for easy picking and pretty white flowers, you’ll get a good crop of dusky violet berries from June to August. You can even grow this one in a pot.

These unusual fruits taste beautiful and look great in desserts like pavlovas and fruit salads where you can really showcase their colours.

There’s also a whole world of raspberry hybrids to discover - fruit breeders have successfully crossed them with blackberries and loganberries to create some delicious new creations. You can read more about them in our hybrid berries feature.

Still can’t decide?

Has this guide just made you want them all? Sorry! If you still can’t decide, our growers have helpfully put together a collection of their own favourite varieties. Their Award Winning Raspberry Canes bundle contains three RHS award winning varieties that will fruit one after the other right from late June to October. Glen Ample is the first, with extra big raspberries on spineless canes that make picking a joy. Rich, aromatic Autumn Bliss takes over in August before super sweet, late cropping Polka rounds off the season.

Ready to grow?