With its ostentatious white flowers clamoring for your
attention, Boulder Raspberry (Oreobatus deliciosus ) impresses
like a hybridized cultivar, rather than a native shrub. Growing
three to five feet tall and six feet wide, arching, sprawling
stems carry bright green, lobed leaves that turn yellow in fall
before dropping for the winter. Spring’s blooms develop into
small reddish purple fruit resembling cultivated raspberries.
While edible, the berries are generally considered unpalatable.
However, they will attract birds and other wildlife. Unlike
other raspberries, the stems are thornless. Dry shade is enough
to send most plants running, but Boulder Raspberry thrives
there. Long-lived and very hardy, you can find these shrubs on
Rocky Mountain slopes and ravines between 4,500 and 9,000 feet.
They prefer gravelly or silty soil with good drainage. A bit
coarse for a formal garden, Boulder Raspberry combines well with
other natives in a natural setting. It works best as an
understory plant or in a northern exp