Description
Blackdown is an English black currant with a straightforward case: it is vigorous, it resists disease, and it bears heavy crops. The berries are large and jet black, juicy, sweet and very flavorful.
It is one of the black currants genuinely worth eating fresh, which is a smaller group than the catalogues suggest, and it makes wonderful preserves with the same fruit. Vigour means it wants its space and an annual prune to keep young wood coming.
Overview
- Large, jet-black, juicy berries, sweet and flavorful.
- Vigorous and disease resistant.
- Heavy cropping English variety.
- Good fresh and outstanding preserved.
Growing Details
Latin Name: Ribes nigrum ‘Blackdown’
Site and Soil: 1/2 day to full day of sun; rich, moist, well-drained soil
Hardiness: Hardy to USDA Zone 3
Rootstock: Grown from cuttings
Bearing Age: Light crop the year after planting; full crops by the third or fourth year
Size at Maturity: Upright and compact, about 3 to 5 ft tall and wide
Ripening Time: Mid season; July into August
Pollination: Self-fertile; one bush sets a full crop, and a second currant nearby increases berry size
Additional Notes
- Grower’s Insight: Vigorous black currants pay back hard pruning. Take a third of the oldest canes right out at ground level each winter.
- Regional Insight: Currants are cool-climate fruit, at their best where summers stay moderate and winters are properly cold.
- Explore more berries in our collection: Berries
