Rubus idaeus 'NR7' RUBY BEAUTY® thornless raspberry

New Zealand company Plant and Food Research came up with an extraordinary addition to the berry family - a dwarf, compact raspberry. In Europe it is marketed under trade name RUBY BEAUTY®.

RUBY BEAUTY® raspberry is a thornless variety valued for its bushy and compact growth. It is ideal for those who don't have a garden and yet want to have some fruit on the balcony or patio. It produces plenty of very delicious and sweet, medium sized fruit on previous year's canes. We were pleasantly surprised by its taste and long fruiting period - first fruit ripens in June and the plant keeps on flowering until late August, so in early September you can still have some berries. The breeder says that a mature plant can produce as much as 1.5 kg of raspberries in one season.

Old canes that have produced fruit should be removed as soon as fruit is harvested to make room for new canes that will bear fruit in the following year. Raspberries are not picky about soil type but if grown in containers they will need a dose of slow-release fertilizer every spring. It needs a lot of sun and is fully hardy in zones 5 and up, possibly more but we have not had a chance to test it.

Last update 30-11-2016