Similar to the Blackcap raspberry, this plant grows as a cane-forming perennial with pinnate leaves with five leaflets on first-year canes, and three leaflets on second-year flowering canes. Leaves are dark green on the top and a pale, almost bluish green on the bottom. First-year canes are pale blue-green, but become woodier and golden brown in their second year. It is an everbearing variety, with flowers growing on second-year canes that produce a small yellow fruit composed of many drupelets that ripen in mid-summer and again in late summer to fall.
The Fall Gold Raspberry tolerates compacted and depleted soils fairly well, is more drought tolerant than other raspberries. It like full sun, although it will tolerate some shade. If the tip of a first-year cane is buried slightly in the ground in the fall and left to over winter, it will root from the tip and send up new canes in the spring. The new plant can then be cut free from the parent and transplanted elsewhere, or left in place as part of a living fence. Cutting back second-year canes in late fall after fruiting can help encourage new growth and more fruiting. Seeds of the Fall Gold Raspberry require cold stratification before they will germinate.
The fruit of the Fall Gold raspberry are high in antioxidants and are exceptionally delicious on their own, or as jams and pastry fillings. The leaves can also be dried and steeped into a tasty tea. The berries can be a food source for many species of birds, and the brambles can also provide habitat and cover.
Fall Gold raspberries make a good edition to the interior of a living fence, but their lack of thorns means they are more susceptible to browse from rabbits and deer