HI Y'all.  I know this is off topic, but does anyone grow raspberries in zone 8b / 9a?  I hail from Colorado and while blackberries are good, I miss raspberries. 

Thank you

Thank you Alan, that does give me something to start looking for!  I wanted to order some more blackberries so I'll see if I can find somewhere that has both plants available. 

I am in Tacoma, WA and I grow the Heritage variety.
What do you need to know about raspberries?!?
-Chuck

I grow them in 9b, San Jose. 

Reds: Caroline, Autumn Bliss, Heritage, Saanich
Yellows: Fall Gold, Anne

We just don't get enough chill hours for them in my area of Florida..about the only choice is to grow them as an annual or grow Mysore black raspberries, they grow great here and taste great but are very thorny. 

Driscoll says on the raspberry container that they are grown in Watsonville, CA.  And I checked and that is hardiness zone 8b.  So with the exception of the humidity, they should have the same amount of chill hours that I have. 

So where do I get low chill hour raspberries? 

Ohjustaguy, what do you get for chill hours in your location?  And what is the production of your plants? 

I grow red raspberries successfully in zone 10 (sunset 24). I sadly don't know the varieties. There is a commericial field in town - one of my varieties is indirectly from that field, and they weren't telling. The other two varieties are from intertwined runners from a friend's bushes (also zone 10) who has grown them successfully for several years too. I was surprised they've done so well here having had failures in the past. Bababerries did not work here, though they were supposed to.

I got several hands-full a day for weeks from one 2 year old bed (3' by 18'). Still getting some, but the flavor now is not as good as when the days were longer. Will plant more for next year. Maybe some in pots too.

I also grew successfully blackberries, but got tired of dealing with the sprawling vines. Ollala berries did great here.

I have some thornless blackberries that I'm training along a fence.  Right now I have Chester, Quachita, and Arapaho.  They sure look nice growing along the fence between my fig tree's and peach tree's.  The raspberries (if I get some) I'll put against the house. 

Gina, if you find out what variety your growing please let me know!  Or even better if you can scrounge up an extra plant or two I'll pay for shipping!

Driscoll raises their own raspberries and they are not available to the public.  So it's not likely they even have a common name.  You have a great source with the ones you've "found"

Gina, do you grow your raspberries in full sun? 

Yes. From about 9 am till sunset.

And they hold up to the heat alright?  Thanks Gina.

Apparently so. :)  But I am coastal and we really don't get that hot here. 90s are unusual though we often get a few days of that every year, including this year already - about 5 days of it. It's not hit 100F for a few years now. Hard to say what climate change will bring however. The ocean really does have a moderating affect on temperature. We also dont get frost, though just down the hill they do, but only light frost every few years.

The raspberries are looking a bit ragged now, but then it's October. I've kept them watered through the season, and I was impressed by how well they have done.

im in zone 8b and fall gold is the best so far for me in this area. i currently have at least six different varieties of raspberries. however, tulameen even though it is sensitive to the moisture here, will grow in my zone here. it is the best tasting berry i have ever had.  it has it all. taste, smells great, it's large, and grows in clusters.  three of them is a mouthful.

Alan, thank you!  I have been searching for raspberries for weeks and never came across those varieties.  I've been wondering about the best location for them since our summer suns can be very intense.  A lot of my tree's burn easily especially in the first year or two.  I may have to try some raspberries in a few different locations in the yard and see where they do the best. 

Hi Charles,

I will have to look into some of you varieties.  I'm learning more about growing them every day and next year would be my first crop of black berries.  I didn't really build a trellis.  There is a fence that runs East / West in the back yard.  It's a power line ROW so there is a lot of sun there.  Its a wood privacy fence.  So I attached eye hooks to the main fence studs and ran 100 ft lined (two lines total) so I can train the black berries down the lines along the fence.  Looks nice and didn't require a big set up.