I’m wondering how easy each are grow in comparison: Currant types
versus Gooseberry types
(also Jostaberry?)
Versus Serviceberry (Northline, Regent, Lee8, Honeywood, Nelson, Smokey etc)
versus Bush Cherry (Romance series, Evans, Meader hybrids?).
What would yall rank them as, in terms of ease to survive, compared, in your climate experience, and also your feedback what would you have most-to-least confidence in trying for my hot sunny summer, drought and late freeze prone, cold winter, kansas midwest environment?
I have currant, gooseberry, and serviceberry. They have all done well to this point in 6b/7a. Several varieties of each as well. Bush cherry I stayed away from because others warned that they get brown rot the same as regular cherries.
Currant and gooseberry are no hassle.
Serviceberry must be sprayed if you want to eat any.
Not sure of that. I have mine in direct sun and they usually look pretty ragged by the end of the summer, but it does not affect them. They are cheap plants, just try a couple and find out. Everything is going to suffer in a drought.
I have several types of currants, gooseberries and jostaberries in 6a/b western PA. Gooseberries do amazingly well against a fence where they get full sun until about 1pm, then are shaded by the fence the rest of the day. I really like the taste of gooseberries and they are great for fresh eating. I would highly recommend giving them a try. My currants get morning shade and afternoon sun and look somewhat ragged by end of summer. Jostaberry seems to be a vigorous grower wherever I have it although yields are pretty low and flavor is worse than most gooseberries and I’m starting to think it might not be worth the space in my garden.
Gooseberry and currents are both in the ribes family so they should be pretty similar. I know gooseberries are used in xeriscaping gardens so they are very drought tolerant. Just check your local laws because in some states ribes are still not legal. Some only have gooseberries or black currents as not legal as well. In terms of bush cherries I would lean towards the romance series if you are going for a tart cherry. I just hear some like Juliet and Crimson passion are much sweeter than many tart cherries and can be used in pies and syrup still. Can’t speak on service berry. In general trees need more work than normal so are not are starter friendly but have the potential for much higher yields.
The Saskatoons (serviceberries) are probably the easiest; once they get established they are a tall bush that don’t care about weeds. Then again keeping the weeds down will keep air circulating, minimize them weeds taking up the nutrients, don’t forget to put a deer/moose fence, and of course if you don’t net them the birds will take them all.
Bush cherries are the same, you just have to wait for waaaaaay longer. I mean in 10 years you have a very large bush with a deep and long root system. You’ll know how deep and long when new bushes start sprouting 10+ feet away.
Currants, josta, gooseberry, they work best if well weeded and if you stay on top of making sure leaf rollers are not rolling, and that the amazing variety of worms and caterpillars are not defoliaging them overnight.
Honestly because they all need watering fencing netting, watch out watch out for them pests, pretty much whatever extra special care a given variety needs is not that much extra. I would focus more on what you want to eat.
Close enough to equal that you’ll not get a consensus answer. Serviceberry would be the weak link in KY if some other variety/cultivar wasn’t chosen…
such as APPLE SERVICEBERRY (amelanchier grandiflora).,one of which is ‘Autumn Brilliance’.
I have three bush cherries. I have 1 Carmine Jewel, one Romeo and one Juliet. The Carmine Jewel is amazingly productive and easy to grow. The other two are not in terribly good spots and are younger. Carmine Jewel has developed scores of suckers. I am not sure why. They are every where. The bush is amazingly productive. The cherries are plentiful and very good. Just be ready for suckers. I also grow lots of currants. They are a bit more difficult. picking the fruit is a lot more work because it is smaller. But they are pretty easy to grow. You have to thin the bushes every year to keep them producing well.
I have grown red currants, gooseberries, jostaberries, and Carmine Jewel and Juliet bush cherries.
The currants, gooseberries, and jostaberries are all marginal in my area, zone 7a. I have had success growing them without any spraying but I had to provide them with afternoon shade and even then they never really seemed super happy.
I like red currants quite a bit as fruit. They are great in sauces, jelly, and as a garnish… but they are a pain to harvest because they are so small.
I really don’t have much use for gooseberries or jostaberries.
The bush cherries are another thing entirely. They get cherry leaf spot every year and you also have to protect the cherries. They are a lot more work, but also just great. Not much beats cherries. I would go with Juliet, it was better than Carmine Jewel in basically every way except that it ripen a little later.
Service berries are easy in my area. I haven’t grown there are some in some parks near my house. They seem to thrive and fruit with no care at all.
So in terms of ease, definitely service berries, followed by the currants/gooseberries, followed by the cherries.
Yeah, I am not crazy about the gooseberries either. I have nearly a quart from Pixwell in the 'fridge…trying to decide on a recipe or if I’ll just freeze them and think about that later.
I’d agree that gooseberries and currants are easier to grow than serviceberries in my Zone 5 and birds will eat your service berries. Most local growers with lots of berries are dropping the serviceberries. The romance series cherries grow well here but Carmine Jewel is much faster to give reasonable size harvests. I know of one that had 37 lbs at three years. Mine took me four or five years to give me that much but I get more every year. Still waiting for my Romeo and Juliet to give me enough to stop snacking on them in the garden and bring them into the kitchen.
if you have a choice id put more juliet. out of the 3 i have juliet tastes the best fresh and is easier to pit than c.j. my 6 romance series should be entering full production here this summer . also have 2 nankings that produced some last year. should be a good crop also this summer.
Pizwell is among the worst gooseberries in my opinion. Pick quite green for any flavour at all. I’d recommend Black Velvet. Tall and productive. Great color. I pick when some are ripe but many are still far from fully ripe. That way there is a great sweet tart balance and nice color. Unripe berries have more pectin as well.
my father had pixwell. i didnt care for it either. i have jeanne and its very good and productive. tastes alot like green grapes which i like. got poorman cuttings potted. hope they take. prefer the taste of currants over gooseberries but havent tasted many different ones of each either.
