anyone?

I planted Poorman late spring and had some berries the first season. Tart but tasty, and very small, maybe due to full sun area and horrible drought conditions this year(southwest Virginia). They are quite thorny, so if that's a concern go for Invicta (which every vendor seems to rave about) as it's close to thornless. I also planted a few bareroot Captivator gooseberries last year, which have yet to fruit, but are thornless. As to plant size Poorman is around 4-5 ft and sprawling, and Captivator is around 3 ft and more upright, but is growing in a good bit of shade.

I decided to skip the blackberries, at least this year and planted black raspberry instead (take up less space). But I have read many times that Triple Crown, while not erect, is far and away the most productive and flavorful of the thornless varieties.

Good luck.

JB

I've only tried a few varieties of gooseberries. Plumfan brought samples of several for me this summer. Of the ones I tried there was one I liked much better than the others and he said it was Captivator.

You might also consider aronia berries for your partially shaded area. They are attractive plants that can have beautiful fall color. They are very productive and easy to grow and the fruit hold well. They are also extremely nutritious with similar antioxidants to blueberries and cranberries but moreso.

They can be a bit astringent and some varieties are apparently bitter, but the ones I tried at the Home Orchard Society Arboretum I enjoyed eating fresh off the vine. I liked them better than many of the pears and gooseberries and such I tried that day. They were pretty sweet.

Those were seedlings. More common varieties grown for the berries are Nero and Viking. I'm growing Autumn Bliss which are noted for especially showy fall coloration and large berries. I just planted mine this spring so they haven't fruited yet.

sorry I didn' tnotice this post earlier.

As far as currants go, it depends upon your preference. I love the red ones and the white ones are ok, but given the flavor of the black ones I had this year I personally wouldn't give them any valuable space in my garden.

Red Lake....most common red currant, reliable, good tasting, I've had few problems and would recomend it.

White Imperial...ok, not as tart as the red (above) but not powerfully sweet either. I've twice had to spray for currant worms (try asking your local garden center for something to get rid of currant worms, they were clueless for me). Leaves seem more prone to powdery mildew than the red.

I can't recall the black I planted, but I will likely remove it next year (once I've bought something else to replace it).

Gooseberry....Hinnomaki Gold (something like that) seems to be the best reviewed (sold out when I tried getting it last year),there is a H Red as well. Invicta (what I got instead) grew well, hasn't fruited yet. Pixwell (always be wary of a fruit that brags about picking it rather than how it tastes) grows well, roots readily and mine has fruited well, but the fruit are quite tart and would likely be better cooked than raw.

Blackberry....go with triple crown if you can find it. Everyone raves about it and it is thornless to boot.

~Chills

Chills,

How much, if any shade are your ribes getting? How does it seem to affect the fruit?

I second the black currant recommendation, steer clear unless you taste them first. I sampled several different varieties at a nursery and all were awful, IMHO. I do however like Crandall, which looks similar but is a clove currant, it's tart but quite sweet when ripe.

JB

Most of my reds are in shade much of the day. I would estimate they only get about 2-3 hours of sun a day (they are between the house and a 6 foot wooden fence, on the side of the driveway and next to a garage...2 separate areas, but similar sun)

Oh yeah...I have clove currants (which grew great this year) but I haven't yet tried the fruit...maybe next year)

~Chills

Don't try 1 hour of sun, that is where my main bed has been and it has been pretty much bust in 4 years of trying. I am moving them to a new bed this spring with 3-4 hours per day. I did have a problem with salt poisoning in the old area which helped the plants to their demise, but even without that the sun was too little. My black raspberries in this spot also are not getting enough sun and the yield is not so good, but at least the plants are healthy and growing, unlike the currants and gooses which have mostly died.

Scott

In defence of blackcurrants .... they are widely grown in the UK but are essentially a fruit to be COOKED unless exremely ripe and indulged in moderation. If you ate them raw it is not surprising the flavour did nothing for you. The raw fruit and the foliage smell like tom cats. However, they make superb pies, jams, jellies, syrups and juices, not to mention cassis liquer. They are also incredibly easy to propagate from cuttings. Just stick a twig in the ground and you will have a new bush.

You're a zone 7 in NY?
If that's right, then you'll certainly need to provide at least afternoon shade for the gooseberries. Pixwell and Glenndale are the only two reliable full-sun gooseberries for me here in my hot zone 6. If you're going for better fruit quality gooseberries, they're gonna need some shade; trust me, I've killed a number of the better ones before I knew better.
I've not tried currants, but with everyone talking about the black ones smelling & tasting like cat pee, I'm not likely to, either.

Lucky...I wouldn't be without Red currants of one sort or another (no cat pee smell or taste there). To me they taste like Pomegranite arils. I might pull out the black currant I planted, or I might leave it there if it encourages better fruiting on the clove currants I have nearby it. I certainly won't be eating much of the fruit.

I would actually describe the taste of black currant as cat pee plus burnt rubber (mouth watering yet?)

~Chills (who actually drinks black currant juice from time to time).

I feel the need to defend the poor blacks. I actually prefer them to the reds, the main problem with the reds is I never seem to have enough of them to do much. Maybe it will get better as the bushes get older but I have two big Red Lake bushes that must be five years old now. Since the black currants are stronger you can add just a small amount to a cooked dish to improve the flavor. I also don't care for the reds fresh a whole lot, they are still too sour and not sweet enough. I have waited a long long time to harvest them to try to get them sweeter or riper, but they just start falling off at some point.

I also like the flavor of some black currants, quite a bit. The Minaj Smyriou has low quantities of the nasty flavors and lots of nice, strong tasty flavors in it. The majority of blacks I would not put into this category. I am planting a new bed this spring which will have Minaj as the only black currant (it will also have black velvet and poorman gooseberries, and Rovada red currants).

Scott

Minaj Smyriou was the black currant I had wanted to get, but it was sold out by the time I had amended my order for the ummmm (fourth) time last spring. (Burnt Ridge has always been very accomodating for me when I want to add something else to my order, which I've done each and every year I've ordered,)

~Chills

I think those who dislike the blackcurrant's flavour are probably just not used to it or are not eating it in an appropriate recipe. Blackcurrants form the basis of one of the most popular soft drinks in the UK and are also used for flavouring confectionery as well as in pies, jams etc. The link, although obviously a promotional site, tells you something about the importance of this fruit over here.

Here is a link that might be useful: blackcurrants