Raspberry

Rubus idaeus, red raspberry, is a suckering deciduous shrub native across Alaska, Canada, the northern United States and Eurasia. Arching prickly canes carry pinnate leaves of three to five wrinkled leaflets, white-felted beneath. White five-petalled flowers in late spring give way to the familiar red aggregate fruit in summer. Its growth cycle is the thing to understand: canes are biennial, growing one year and fruiting the next before dying, so pruning depends entirely on whether a variety is summer-fruiting or everbearing. It spreads persistently by root suckers, which is how a few plants become a patch within a couple of seasons.