Other Names:  Sonya's Parasol Variegated Creeping Raspberry

Description:

A densely branched, trailing groundcover with lovely variegated green and white foliage; perfect rambling over rocks, cascading over walls or containers; produces small light orange fruit with a delicately sweet flavor

Edible Qualities

Sonya's Parasol Creeping Rasberry is a small shrub that is typically grown for its edible qualities. It produces small orange oval berries which are usually ready for picking in late summer. The berries have a sweet taste.

The berries are most often used in the following ways:

• Fresh Eating
• Cooking
• Baking
• Preserves

Features & Attributes

Sonya's Parasol Creeping Rasberry has white flowers along the branches in mid summer. It has white-variegated dark green foliage. The crinkled lobed leaves turn burgundy in the fall, which persists throughout the winter. It features an abundance of magnificent orange berries in late summer.

This is a dense multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with a spreading, ground-hugging habit of growth. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other landscape plants with less refined foliage. This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It is a good choice for attracting birds to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Aside from its primary use as an edible, Sonya's Parasol Creeping Rasberry is sutiable for the following landscape applications;

• Rock/Alpine Gardens
• General Garden Use
• Groundcover
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Sonya's Parasol Creeping Rasberry will grow to be only 4 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 3 feet. It tends to fill out right to the ground and therefore doesn't necessarily require facer plants in front. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. This is a self-pollinating variety, so it doesn't require a second plant nearby to set fruit.

This plant is typically grown in a designated edibles garden. It performs well in both full sun and full shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Sonya's Parasol Creeping Rasberry is a good choice for the edible garden, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its spreading habit of growth, it is ideally suited for use as a 'spiller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the edges where it can spill gracefully over the pot. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.