Salmonberry

How to recognise it

Growth habit

Deciduous, upright to arching shrub of 1.5–3 m that forms dense thickets through underground suckers. The stems live for several years.

Stem

Golden brown to reddish brown, with peeling bark and fine, rather weak prickles, mostly towards the base.

Leaf

Made up of three leaflets with doubly toothed edges; the end leaflet is larger and often slightly lobed. Green on both sides, slightly hairy underneath.

Flower

Magenta-pink to reddish purple, 2–4 cm across, with five petals and many stamens; usually single or in pairs on short side shoots, in March–May.

Fruit

A compound berry like a raspberry, 1.5–2 cm, yellowish orange to salmon red or dark red; ripe in June–July. Soft and juicy, with a mild taste.

Confusion with

Raspberry (Rubus idaeus) has small white flowers and leaves with white, felted undersides. Japanese wineberry (Rubus phoenicolasius) has stems covered in red glandular hairs. Purple-flowering raspberry (Rubus odoratus) has large, simple, maple-like leaves and no prickles.

Flowering: March–May · Pruning: July–August

Why grow it?

• One of the earliest flowering shrubs: the magenta-pink flowers open as early as March–April, just as queen bumblebees emerge from their winter rest.
• The berries in June–July are edible and much loved by blackbirds, thrushes and other birds.
• The dense, slightly prickly thickets give birds safe shelter and nesting sites.
• Also grows in partial shade and on moist to wet soil, where few other fruiting shrubs do well.
• In winter the golden-brown stems with peeling bark stand out.

Salmonberry: where does it grow best?

• In the wild: moist coastal forests, stream banks, wet clearings and woodland edges in western North America.
• In the garden: sun to partial shade. It also grows in deep shade, but then flowers and fruits less.
• Moisture-retentive to wet, humus-rich soil, slightly acid to neutral; it does not cope well with long droughts.
• Give it a spot where it may spread, or keep it in check with a root barrier; never in or next to woodland or a nature reserve.

Goes well with

• Flowering currant: Comes from the same region, flowers pink at the same time and also attracts early bumblebees.
• Male fern: Sturdy ferns as green underplanting in partial shade.
• Wood anemone: A white carpet at the edge of the shrub in March–April, before the leaves are fully out.
• Meadowsweet: Likes the same moist soil and flowers in summer, after the salmonberry.
• Hazel: A taller shrub for the back, with early catkins and nuts for squirrels.

Salmonberry: when and how to plant it?

1. Buy it in a pot from a nursery or garden centre. Never take plants from the wild or from parks.
2. Plant from October to March, when the soil is neither frozen nor waterlogged.
3. Dig a planting hole twice as wide as the root ball and mix in some leaf mould.
4. If it must not spread, put a root barrier at least 40 cm deep around the planting spot.
5. Allow 1.5–2 m of space per plant; in an informal hedge, plant 1 m apart.
6. Water well straight away and regularly in dry spells during the first year. Mulch around the base with leaf mould.

Care

Water

Weekly in dry weather during the first year. Later only in long, dry summers: it likes moist soil.

Feeding

Not needed. Leave the fallen leaves in place or add some leaf mould in spring.

Spreading

Every spring or autumn, cut through the suckers outside the allotted space with a sharp spade and pull them out, roots and all.

Mulching

A layer of leaves or wood chips keeps the soil cool and moist, as in its native forests.

Berries

Pick them when they are soft and come away easily, or leave them for the birds.

Tip: Plant it where its suckers are naturally contained, for example between a path and a wall or in a damp corner you do not use anyway. That way you enjoy the early flowers without having to dig every year.

Pruning and mowing

Pruning months: July–August.

When: After picking the berries, in July–August.

How:

• Each year, remove a few of the oldest, least flowering stems at ground level.
• Cut out dead and damaged stems.
• Remove suckers outside the space where it may grow, preferably with their roots.
• Do not trim the whole outside of the shrub: this keeps the flowering side shoots.

Caution: It flowers on stems from last year and older: if you cut everything short in winter, you will have no flowers or berries the following year. Wear gloves because of the prickles.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Suckers

In autumn or early spring, cut off a sucker with a piece of root and replant it straight away. This is the easiest method.

Seed

Take the seeds out of ripe berries, rinse them and sow them outdoors in a pot in autumn. They need a cold period and germinate slowly, sometimes only after a year.

Cuttings

Semi-ripe cuttings of 10–15 cm in July, under plastic in moist cutting compost.

Salmonberry: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −25 °C.

• Drops its leaves in autumn; the golden-brown stems with peeling bark remain visible all winter.
• Hardy down to about −25 °C: the shrub itself needs no protection.
• After a mild winter it sometimes flowers as early as February; a late frost can then damage the early flowers.
• The dense thickets and fallen leaves shelter birds, insects and hedgehogs.

Diseases and pests

• Spreading: Suckers make the shrub wider every year. Cut them off every year and fit a root barrier if needed.
• Late frost: Brown, frosted flowers after a cold night in March. A sheltered spot, not in a frost pocket, helps.
• Aphids: On young shoots in spring. Ladybirds and birds usually clear them up.
• Grey mould: Grey fluff on ripening berries in wet summers. Pick off rotten berries and keep the shrub open by removing old stems.
• Escaping into the wild: Birds spread the seed. Keep it away from woodland and nature reserves and never dump dug-up roots in the countryside.

Through the year

• February: In mild winters the first buds swell. Plant if the soil is not frozen.
• March: Flowering begins: queen bumblebees on the pink flowers. Cut off suckers.
• April: In full flower; the leaves come out. Watch for aphids.
• May: Last flowers; the first berries form.
• June: First ripe berries: pick them or leave them for blackbirds and thrushes.
• July: Last berries. After picking, cut out old stems. Take semi-ripe cuttings.
• August: Finish pruning. Water in dry spells.
• October: Plant. Cut off suckers. Sow seed in a pot outdoors.
• November: Plant. Leave the fallen leaves in place.
• December: Rest: the golden-brown stems brighten the garden.

Did you know?

• According to one explanation the name salmonberry refers to the colour of the berries, which resemble salmon eggs; according to another, to the custom of the Indigenous peoples of the North American Pacific coast of eating the berries with salmon.
• Spectabilis is Latin for ‘remarkable’ or ‘worth seeing’, after the brightly coloured flowers.
• In Britain it was once planted on country estates as cover for game birds; that is how it has gone wild there in places.