Purple-flowering Raspberry is the most ornamental of our native Rubus species, with its rosy-looking flowers that can be up to 2" wide. The fragrant blooms occur June through July and are visited by numerous pollinator species that receive nectar in return for cross-pollinating the flowers. Edible red fruits form July through September, which are rather dry and crumbly. Many bird species enjoy the fruits, as well as small and large mammals. Deer will browse the foliage, so protection until well-established is recommended. The plant is thornless, instead covered by bristles.
Purple-flowering Raspberry is best utilized in a location that gets partial sun, adequate moisture, and with plentiful room to accommodate its suckering, thicket-forming growth habit. It looks beautiful in woodland gardens, shrub borders, as screening, or naturalized in wild areas of the landscape.
Sources:
Native Trees, Shrubs, & Vines by William Cullina
Missouri Botanical Garden
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
NC State Extension
