Royalty Raspberry vs Illini Hardy Blackberry

Royalty Raspberry is a productive and delicious red-purple raspberry. It is a cross between a red raspberry and a black raspberry. Ripening in late August, the berries are ideal for homemade jams, preserves, and fresh eating.

If you are going for more of a classic red raspberry taste, pick the berries early. But if they are left on the cane until they are purple the taste will be sweeter.

Royalty Raspberry is a floricane-fruiting variety, meaning it primarily produces fruit on second-year canes (previous season’s new growth). They are also referred to as summer-bearing. In late winter or early spring, cut back all spent floricanes, leaving only last season's canes.

Raspberries are self-fertile, meaning they do not require cross-pollination from another variety to produce fruit.

This very popular extra large berried variety was developed at Cornell University.

The Illini Hardy Blackberry was developed in Illinois for northern growers, and produces a large, juicy blackberry with medium-sweet flavor. The berries are ready for harvest in midsummer, and go great in preserves.

The Illini Hardy Blackberry, or the Illinois Blackberry, are floricanes, primarily fruiting on second year canes. Each spring cut back all two-year old canes, leaving only the last year’s growth. This is a self-pollinating variety, so it doesn’t require a second plant nearby to set fruit.

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