Friday, June 5, 2009

Uh-Oh, I Was Wrong!

Remember this picture from my post the other day and I thought it was a multiflora rose?
Well, I found out tonight that I was so wrong! It's a red raspberry!

When I took Sophie for a walk after supper, I saw this flower blooming all over up the street and then I remembered that there are always raspberries along the edge of the woods up there. I guess what threw me off was that the blossoms were so huge--I usually think of raspberry flowers as being much smaller. Anyway, the bad news is that I have to admit I was wrong (publicly!), but the good news is that it looks like there will be a bumper crop of raspberries this summer--as long as I can get to them before the birds!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do the wild raspberries have as many thorns as domestic do? Have fun picking them anyway. When I first looked at the plant and flowers I thought it was a wild herb of some kind. I'm a lot more familiar with wild strawberries, remember when you all picked them, what a delicious meal.

MOM

Heidi said...

You weren't that far off... raspberries (Rubus) are part of the Rosaceae family, same sub-family too (Rosoideae). It makes sense the flowers are similar to wild roses.

Mary C said...

It's always good to find out exactly what our flora and fauna are, even if we have to admit we wrongly identified it originally. I've had to correct a few of mine, but I haven't had to admit to it publicly yet.

Gaelyn said...

It's still part of the rose family?

Lisa at Greenbow said...

I must have missed that post Ruthie. It is ok to be wrong. It is only not ok when you are proven wrong and you don't admit it. Nature can be confusing at times.

Anonymous said...

Let us know if huge flowers lead to huge raspberries. If so, post directions! :)

troutbirder said...

Congrats on your certification Ruthie. And at least you can still find wild rasberries. Ours have all disappeared as our area has morphed from rural into suburbia.

mon@rch said...

Rubus species! :)

Heather said...

=ahem= On one hand I feel bad for having called you out on that one, but on the other hand.... you get raspberries out of it!!! We have lots of wild raspberries growing across the road from us, and the more I was around them this weekend (we put some netting over a section in hopes of keeping the birds out of some of them), the more sure I was that your flower was not multiflora rose but some kind of berry. Another bonus: no stinky non-native invasive plant in that spot! I hope you get to enjoy lots of those berries this summer!

RuthieJ said...

Hi Mom,
Yes, just as many thorns! And I don't think the berries are quite as sweet, but I hope to find enough to maybe make a batch of jam with them when the time comes.

Thanks Heidi, for that information..... now I don't feel so bad!

Hi Mary C,
In this case, I'm really glad I was wrong and it's not the multiflora rose.

Sounds like it is Gaelyn! I think I've seen some recipes (tea, jelly?) for rose hips too.

Confusing for sure, Lisa! And if I hadn't posted those pictures earlier, I wouldn't have even said anything, but I don't like to spread mis-information if I can help it.

Hi Mary Lee,
If the raspberries are huge, I'll definitely post pictures and directions so everyone can come help pick them!

Thanks Troutbirder. I have found some raspberries in my own backyard now too--courtesy of the birds, I believe.

Thanks Mon@rch.

Don't feel bad Heather -- when I saw all those same flowers up the street and it finally dawned on me that they were raspberries I was pretty glad (even though it meant admitting my own error)

Dawn Fine said...

Oh oh...yummmy ...what a good thing to be wrong about!