Description
Rovada came out of Dutch breeding and it earned its place on one trait: the strigs, the strings the berries hang on, are unusually long. That turns picking from a fiddly job into a quick one, because you take the whole string and strip it later.
The crop behind that is very heavy, and the berries are large, round and beautifully translucent red. The flavor is sweet with a clean tartness behind it, so the fruit works eaten fresh off the string and makes an excellent jam and jelly. It ripens late for a red currant, which stretches the season at the back end.
Overview
- Unusually long strigs; pick whole strings rather than single berries.
- Very heavy crops of large, translucent red berries.
- Sweet with clean tartness; good fresh, excellent preserved.
- A Dutch commercial variety grown for its yield.
Growing Details
Latin Name: Ribes rubrum ‘Rovada’
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: Late 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: Rovada is the red currant customers come back and ask for by name, year after year. Cut whole strigs with scissors and strip them indoors.
- 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
