What Is the Difference Between Summer and Autumn Raspberries?

Many gardeners buy raspberry canes without fully appreciating that summer-fruiting and autumn-fruiting raspberries are managed differently and expect different things from the grower. If you prune them at the wrong time, or expect fruit in the wrong season, you will end up with either no fruit or a healthy row cut down just before it was about to produce. Understanding which type you have — and what it needs — is the most important piece of raspberry knowledge there is.

Summer-fruiting raspberries

Summer-fruiting varieties (e.g. Glen Ample, Glen Prosen, Tulameen, Malling Jewel) produce fruit on two-year-old canes — floricanes that grew vegetatively in their first year and fruit in their second. They harvest in June and July, depending on variety and location. After fruiting, the old canes die and are cut to the ground. The new canes that grew during the fruiting season overwinter and become next year's fruiting canes.

Autumn-fruiting raspberries

Autumn-fruiting varieties (e.g. Autumn Bliss, Joan J, Polka, Himbo Top) produce fruit on the tips of the current year's canes — primocanes that grew and flowered in the same growing season. They harvest from August into October. All canes are cut to the ground in winter — there are no canes to keep over, which makes pruning extremely simple. This is the key difference: summer types = keep the new canes, cut the old; autumn types = cut everything in winter.

Which type do you have?

If you do not know your variety, the fruiting time tells you: fruit in June–July is summer-fruiting; fruit from August onwards is autumn-fruiting. If the canes that produced fruit this season are now dying back and browning (becoming clearly dead wood), those were floricanes — summer type. If the entire row still looks alive and green after fruiting finishes, it is likely autumn-fruiting.