Rubus arcticus
Origin: Russia
Improvement status: Wild
Seeds per packet: ~20
BOTANICAL SAMPLE - NOT GERMINATION TESTED
Life cycle: Perennial
Also called Arctic Bramble, Nectarberry, and Nagoonberry (from its Tlingit name, neigóon, meaning “jewel" ), this slow-growing groundcover is a cold-loving, thornless member of the rose family that makes delicious red fruit (and also has beautiful pink-purple flowers!). Rubus arcticus’ natural habitat has unfortunately shrunk as peatlands have. It ranges throughout the northern hemisphere’s circumboreal regions, including Alaska, Minnesota, Mongolia, Estonia, Scandinavia, and Russia, where our seed lot this year comes from (care of the good folks at Sheffield’s Seeds in Locke, NY). In Russia, this special raspberry is called knyazhenika, meaning "berry of princes.” The deep-red fruit is a delicacy and makes excellent jam, jelly, liquor, tea, wine, and much more. It also has a wide range of traditional medicinal uses.
GROWING TIPS: Soak seeds in water for 24 hours, then cold stratify for 30 days. Surface sow seeds and keep moist (they require light for germination). Plants ultimately want to grow in moist, well-drained soil. Very cold hardy (to Zone 2), they are said to be able to grow in as warm a climate as Zone 8.
