I'm in Northern California in the Wine country.

Thanks for the helpful advice :)

I am in San Francisco, and I have several varieties of raspberries growing. This is only my second year with these plants, so I don't have much to go on, but they are doing well for me.
The 2-3 year old plants (called Heritage, a red berry) put out a bunch of fruit last year and spread runners all over.
The runners have not produced, and many I pulled up.
If you don't want them to spread, you must contain them in some sort of bed.

Two other varieties, a black rasp. and a golden one, did not produce as well, but were younger canes. I'm expecting more from them this year.

I get cooler weather than you, and I think they may prefer a little shade as opposed to full sun all day long.

Keep your sunniest areas for tomatoes, peppers and eggplants, and basil and some heat loving flowers.
Leave cooler areas for greens, strawberries and peas.

Hope that helps! Have fun.

Helps a lot. Thanks :)

I'll post some pictures once they get in the soil. I bought 2 heritage today, thinking about 1 more.

Do you also grow strawberries? I want to plant 15-20. Everbearing if possible.

I have 7 raspberry plants in the ground!

5 were bare root Autumns Bliss, they were planted last evening after a good soak. Got them for $5. Can't beat that.

2 are Heritage. They pace they're growing is absolutely astounding!

I also planted 24 seascape strawberries in 2 V shaped rows
And about 30 carrots.
And some shallots.
And 3 types of squash
And 2 sweet peas

This is jut the beginning, I'm hooked.

Hi Kee
Yes, I got hooked too....I have almost 100 strawberry plants scattered around. Some produced very well, and some not as well. Also, they produced better at the beginning of the season before they were attacked by more garden pests.
I have an everbearing and a june bearing, but to be honest, I didn't keep track of which bloomed when. It did seem like there were two spurts, with a lot more production in spring or beginning of summer.

Is the Autumn bliss a red berry? let me know how that does for you. As you see, the heritage grow like crazy.

Autumn bliss is a red berry. I have the opportunity to purchase some golden and purples as well for the same price, but starting off with these to see how manageable it is.

The autumn bliss did pretty well today and the Heritage definitely grew a bit. Even with the hail we had today (for 5 minutes-- it's been a long time since I've seen hail) I never knew the plants could be so beautiful. They're an extremely healthy green.

Lows will be in the 45s tonight. Hoping for the best.

I have read good things about Autumn Britten, but never tried them.

I am on the boarder of USDA zones 9 and 10. I have been growing Raspberries for about 8 years. I like Baba the best out the varieties I have tried.

Sometimes, new growth on my raspberries got burned in the harsh summer sun when I grew them with a West facing exposure. I moved them to an eastern exposure.

My neighbor across the street grows her raspberries on the north side of a building. Other than growing a foot taller than mine, she gets similar sized crops. They need regular supplement water.

Enjoy your berries!

Hi there!

Among the first plants I added to my very first "real" garden I started last spring were berries, including raspberries. I put in one Heritage and another called "Red Candy", and a blackberry that unfortunately didn't make it through the summer (got totally overshadowed and choked out). I also put in a "Misty" blueberry bush and a pot with a combination of June bearing and ever bearing ("Chandler" and "Albion") strawberries. I even put several wild Alpine strawberries in the ground.

The raspberries grew like crazy last summer, but had to fight for their lives with out-of-control heirloom tomatoes and rampant xi qua vines. It also looked like the leaves got toasted by the sun somewheres about August or so. I didn't even get a fall harvest, and when I finally got around to clearing out the last of the xi qua vines that had grown all the way up the veranda wall and across our front door, and saw the pathetic-looking remnants of what were once vibrantly growing raspberry canes, I thought I had killed them too! Nevertheless, I didn't give up, and just clipped the canes down to a reasonable length about a month or so ago, gave them a good feed, and waited to see what would happen next.

Just a couple weeks ago, the Red Candy canes started popping with lovely new growth (the Heritage started later), so I am looking forward to finally getting raspberries this summer! I replaced the poor blackberry plant I killed with a boysenberry plant that immediately settled in and has flowers already! I got a companion ("Sharp Blue") for my Misty blueberry bush and they both have lots of little berries forming. I got one (1) blueberry from the Misty last summer, but it tasted amazing. Now I'm having to weed-whack all the raspberry suckers that are popping up all over the place in order to concentrate them in their own space. I have a trellis behind them and will make sure to get in front of the vine management issue and arrange/tie them to the trellis as soon as I can.

The strawberries are producing like mad now too, so I must have done something right.

You asked for suggestions about where to buy plants. I am in the metro L.A. area, and I got all my berry plants except the strawberries from the San Gabriel Nursery. I buy pretty much all of my transplants there, and I have also bought from the Marina del Rey garden center, which is more expensive than San Gabriel Nursery. SG is a family-owned business that has been there for nearly 100 years. I ordered the strawberries online - the wild ones from The Strawberry Store and the tame ones from Mountain Valley Growers. About the soil, I have massively heavy, sticky clay that I dumped in a bunch of Kellog's "Amend" and a little sand. I use organic citrus and vine food, and they seem ok with that. They are planted against the veranda wall, which faces east and radiates a fair bit of heat. From reading other posts on this thread, I'll have to figure out a way to protect the berries from getting sunburned.

Good luck with your garden!

Brenda K

My zone gets a semi-marine influence, so summers generally stay cool until Mid July, when suddenly we get into the 90s and even over 100 many days. It's supposed to be a tough environment for raspberries, but I'm stubborn and I'd like to at least try.

Everything I've read about growing raspberries in so. Cal suggests that you should arrange to plant them so that they have some filtered shade in the afternoon. Not full sun, that will fry them.

The Meeker was planted about 8 weeks ago and is just now waking up. The Brandywine was planted about the same time but has been growing slowly since the first week. The Heritage is growing fast (the only one of the three actually recommended for So. Cal), still in the pot, has set a few berries--I am waiting for the sweet peas in that bed to fade a bit before pulling them out to make room for the Heritage.

I would like to try adding in a yellow raspberry, but not sure which is better for my zone 9/10: Anne or Fall Gold?
I'd better order and plant it soon!

Next year, I'm adding Bababerries to the patch.They are supposed to thrive in So Cal and I've heard great things about their flavor. Bay Laurel has ended their shipping season unfortunately, so I'm too late there.

I've grown black raspberries, and reds Baba & Heritage. I must say the black rasps are my favorite! especially with a bowl of frosted flakes cereal...yummy! From the reds, the babas are my favorite! All three have done well for me. I normally have them on the south side of the house, where they will pretty much get full sun during the summer months. I do recommend you water yours regularly and fertilize! You'll have to get used to thinning out the canes to leave the thickest ones and get rid of the skinnier ones. That was hard for me at first...it meant less fruit, but I got BETTER fruit! Keeping the black rasps in order is a task! The reds are way easier to control, plus you'll get fruit on the top 3rd of 1st year canes. Then prune the top 3rd off and the 2nd year you'll get fruit on the bottom 2/3rds of the canes. Good luck! Please post some pictures!