Bearing Cycle

• Summer bearing raspberries produce fresh green canes (primocanes) one year, then fruit on those canes the next. Everbearing raspberry varieties can produce flowers and fruit on the tips of the primocane in fall of their first year. These canes then overwinter and go dormant, producing another crop on the lower part of the cane during the next growing season. According to the University of Minnesota Extension, everbearing raspberry varieties aren't suitable for some cold climates, since an early winter can kill the autumn crop.
  
  

Red Raspberries

• Most everbearing raspberry varieties are red raspberries, which produce new primocanes from the base of any older cane, as well as from buds on the roots. Varieties for the early season include Autumn Bliss, Redwing, Polana, Summit, Double Delight and Red River. Josephine is a midseason fruiter, while Caroline and Heritage tend to produce berries later on. August Red is the earliest-ripening everbearing raspberry.
  
  

Golden Raspberries

• Golden raspberries are a special mutation of the red raspberry. These fruits don't produce red pigment, but grow in a similar fashion. Golden everbearing varieties include Fallgold, a hardy, productive early season berry with small fruit; Anne, a large mid- to late-season berry; Golden is a reddish raspberry with a golden tinge. Kiwigold produces a large, yellow berry with a reddish blush on its surface.
  
  

Black Raspberries

• These brambles produce primocanes only from buds at the base of older canes and do not spread the way golden and red raspberries do. Everbearing black raspberry varieties are much less common than red or yellow varieties. Explorer, bred from a chance wild seedling, and PT2A4 are the most readily available varieties in the United States, but are still experimental. Older varieties, such as Ohio Everbearing, were once readily available, but are now difficult or impossible to find.
  
  

Pruning

• Everbearing raspberry varieties require special pruning. Summer bearing raspberries won't produce berries on acnes that have already fruited. These dead, gray canes should be cut out in the fall. Everbearing raspberries will fruit again next year on dormant canes. To encourage healthy fruiting, cut back 1-year-old canes to below the fruiting area, but not close to the ground. These shorter canes will produce their summer crop while allowing new primocanes to grow between them.