Some types produce more berries than others. Crandall clove currents are nice bushes in general.
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Crandall clove currants look like they’ll crop heavily again this year. They originally came from Raintree.
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How big is that bush?
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They’re a nice bush seem to set a huge crop for the size…my only problem so far is a little bird of some sort loves them and eats them all…same with haskaps
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i suspect its house sparrows. i see them under all my plants all the time.
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Here ya go. The 2 gallon watering can is for size comparison. The branches grow about 5 feet tall then they bend over from the weight of the crop. They send up new shoots from near the base and the cycle continues.
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There are several threads about clove currants, so I’ve just picked one to reply to.
I’ve got a little backpedaling to do. I’ve badmouthed Crandal, because I much prefer black currants, and I’ve said its flavor is uninteresting.
Well a couple of things this year have changed my opinion of them, and good thing because this may have been the year I’d have yanked it otherwise.
First, my black currant crop this year was a complete loss due to the 115 degree or whatever, weather we saw in June. So Crandall didn’t have them to compete against for favor, and remarkably, Crandall came out unscathed.
I don’t know if its due to the genetics, later ripening, or being on the north end of the taller black currant planting - but this year the regular black currants got an F for failed crop.
So I was more interested in the Crandalls, and I let them hang long enough to fully ripen, which is weeks after they turn black. The extra sweetness, less sourness, and some more flavor development have me enjoying them fresh.
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I completely agree. I love Crandal currants but you have to let them hang well past black to get the best flavor.
Interesting thing though is mine still doesn’t really have any clove scent when blooming. I have the one I bought from Raintree many years ago and everytime I move I dig a sucker and bring it with. We have two others on our property now. These other two don’t produce hardly any berries and the berries they do produce are pretty worthless, they don’t have much scent to me either. Pretty in bloom and a bullet proof drought resistant bush, which I think has nice fall foliage but I can’t remember for sure. The one from Raintree is the only good one I have. They are not rare at all up in the Colorado mountains and I have crossed path with many, I have only found one patch that was just as good as the Raintree variety. If it wasn’t such a hassle to get to I would take a sucker and plant that one too.
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I just started harvesting some. Most are still not completely black. Yes, they are a very cool currant.
I tried to grow mine upright, and did until it fruited. It fruits so heavy the branches have to be supported. It’s a beast of a plant too.
Every fruiting branch is like this.
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Mine are meh. I planted it last year, so it may be too early to do a taste test. I thought I might have picked them before they ripened, but from what I see from others, I can rule that out?
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Eat them right when the purple on the bottom is disappearing. Those are too far gone…at least some appear to be shriveling?
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I think that is a reflection of the house off of the shiny berry skin and not a shrivel. That’s what I thought at first glance too though.
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I hadn’t noticed that!
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Yes, that’s the reflection and not shriveling 
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This was the first year my clove currant actually set fruit. Only a few but we thought the flavour was very good.
I don’t personally like black currants, but grow them for my father. I find them too musky tasting but the clove was deep and complex. He liked them too.
If they actually start producing, I’m going to try and spread them out since we’d love to get a good supply.
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I shared in a different thread, but yeah – as long as you let them ripen, they’re very good! A nice sweet-tart type of flavor. I harvested one bush yesterday (a 2nd leaf bush) and pulled 5 lbs from the one bush. But the way I pick is I wait for the stem going into the currant to turn brown/slightly brown and berries to be a bit mushy to the pinch test. They’re not as good if you don’t let them fully ripen…
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I’ve grown regular black currants for a little while now, and I just started growing a little 6" rooted sucker of crandal currant this spring, and it’s leafed out and growing nicely! Fingers crossed it survives long enough to get fruit! I see in this thread that, in addition to black clove currants, there are yellow and red ones.
Can anyone who has yellow and red clove currants describe their taste? How do they compare to regular black currants and/or crandalls?
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Ill throw in another vote for letting them hang a while. They are pretty yummy then, though they do tend to drop or get eaten while youre waiting for them to sweeten up. Ive had some that were almost labrusca grape-esque in flavor. My ‘crandall’ isnt quite as good, but tasty enough, and the size is nice. I love black currants too. I guess i wouldn’t really compare the two.
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Hi, I am looking for old types old golden currants. Who would like to sell some seeds or scions?
Delivery Land: Europe/Germany
Thanks
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