Description
Rubus spectabilis, known as salmonberry, is a thicket-forming, deciduous, BC native shrub with upright to arching slightly prickly stems, mid-green leaves, and bright purple pink 1-2 inch wide flowers in early spring. Rufous hummingbirds follow the opening blooms of salmonberry and red flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum) on their northward migration each spring up the West Coast. The flowers are also popular with native bees. They are followed by tasty, edible, raspberry-like fruits in summer that can mature to red or yellow when ripe. Perfect to naturalize in a dappled light woodland, or edge of a relaxed country garden. An excellent addition to a mixed hedge. It is a larval host for native butterflies and moths.
