Description
This came from a collector who has spent years assembling currant varieties, many of them close to disappearing from cultivation altogether. It is an uncommon red currant and worth a place in a garden for that alone.
It behaves as a red currant behaves: hardy well into the cold north, self-fertile, cropping on strings that pick whole, and wanting the same half to full day of sun and rich moist ground as the rest of the family. The fruit is bright and clean flavored, good fresh at full ripeness and reliable in jelly.
Overview
- An uncommon red currant from a collector’s holding.
- Bright, clean-flavored fruit on quick-picking strings.
- Hardy and self-fertile; wants what any red currant wants.
- For growers who enjoy keeping a rare variety going.
Growing Details
Latin Name: Ribes rubrum ‘New York’
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: Keep a note of when it flowers and ripens. For a variety this uncommon, your own record is the most useful one there is.
- 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
