[iron]

is there a difference in the plant types between the orange and dark red varieties? tastes are different enough to know which ones you're eating. orange is definitely juicier. also, it seems that some of them have needles and others do not (unless it's nearby plants i'm mixing up). my 20 month old daughter likes to sing the "i like candy" song, but replaces "candy" with "salmonberries". she eats like 30 a day in a nearby park.

[Mike Collins]

No difference in the plant. Both are Rubus spectabilis.This is the time of year when I will make salmonberry pies. I use tapioca flour but you will have to add sugar to the mix or it will be too tart.

[ale_capone]

New growth on salmon berry plants usually have no, or few thorns. My rabbits love them. Older growth gets thorns. I always assumed since wild berries aren't cultivated, each plant is slightly unique in berry color and flavour. Same goes for blues and hucks... can be sweet, sour, or like a skunks butt.

[Ski]

Same/same as Mike Collins notes. Yellow is early. Later they turn orange-red. Some will ripen to a deep maroon color.

[cambajamba]

They're ripe at orange, the dark red ones are for tourists.

[Ski]

believe it or not... we were walking around downtown Seattle one night 30 years ago and stepped into a fancy-schmantzy bistro for a little dessert - tiny salmonberry tarts - and they were made with a mix of yellow, orange, and the darker red ones. maybe that place was just a tourist trap, though...

[cambajamba]

Unscrupulous foragers selling the bistro folks anything they can.