Gooseberries and currants (all - black, red, white, pink) don't need cross-pollination, they are self-fertile. Black currants definitely will do great in your part-shade (mine do and I am not far away from you). Others also will be OK. Don't plant them too close to the house, especially black currants - berries will stain the siding. I don't have Tixia gooseberry, I have Hinnomaki Red and Invicta. I eat Hinnomaki Red straight from the bush - love it, not really shrilled about Invicta - berries are too "furry". I also have black gooseberry - my favorite, bush is huge and thorny but berries are very tasty. If you have extra cuttings of Tixia, I can exchange for other seedlings or cuttings, if you are interested. Yelena

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

I have both currants and gooseberries in Des Moines (and had them in Columbus, OH, also). Neither are good for hedges or screening. Even in full sun, they're low-growing and scrawny. Also, the elderberries someone suggested are a very tall plant, but not that filled out in the middle, so also not a good hedge or visual barrier (not to mention how they wander all around the yard and come and go from year to year). For a hedge-like food plant, I think the Nanking cherries I have are the best possibility. Nice thick growth, responsive to pruning into a bush or hedge shape, and covered the sour cherries in the spring (but net them if you want any; the birds love 'em). I have a couple of black currant bushes, but neither is growing well enough to suggest whether they'll eventually become "hedge" material. I also planted the honeyberry bush (blueberry-like but w/o the requirement of acid soil), and those are simply puny. Good luck!

Blackberries are extremely invasive, I tried to remove one bush 4 years ago, but its seedlings still come every year all around my berry patch. The same situation with raspberries. They are better planted in a pot if you have limited space or don't want constantly remove unwanted seedlings. Rovada is a very productive red currant variety, it ripes after Red Lake (about 2 weeks later) and bush is smaller than Red Lake, berries are larger that Red Lake's. I also like Pink Champaigne (pink currant) - berries are sweeter. There are also black currants, they like partial shade more than red, pink and white varieties. Gooseberries are very different is taste and size of berries and bushes. Invicta has big sour-sweet green berries with small "fuz" (kinda "furry"). I like Hinnomaki Red more despite that berries are smaller and red in color - they are great to eat when ripe and to make "emerald preserves" when berries are still green (groundhogs prefer them too). The only thing - branches are weeping. There are also varieties that are similar to blueberries in taste, color and size - Black Velvet, for example. I have Black Negus (European gooseberry variety) and it's an extremely productive huge bush, berries are good for making wine. Any way, there are a lot of varieties of currants and gooseberries, suitable for any taste and purpose. Warning- some regions prohibit planting and growing currants and gooseberries and many mail-order catalog companies won't send seedlings to you unless you have a permission from a state.