I have three Jeannes. They are nice large berries. Productive but not as productive as the Black Velvet. But spines are worse on Black Velvet.
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hows taste compared to jeanne?
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I like them as well as Jeanne. Maybe better. Ask me in a few months when fresh. One Black Velvet gives me more than three Jeannes in the same garden.
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I’ve got two pixwells that I wish I had not paid for. Hinomaki red is topping the charts so far for me.
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I grow all of the above in Zone 6b in a similar climate zone to Kansas (although it’s probably more humid and wet here in KY). Gooseberries are extremely easy to grow, and currants are too, although much slower to establish and a little more finicky. Both need a site with about 1/2 day of sun and 1/2 day partial shade in my experience, due to intolerance to strong heat and sunlight. Remember, both come from cooler parts of Europe. Serviceberries you need to focus on SPECIES and less on cultivars. You want a species that is going to grow into a form you want (large shrub or tree) and also be resistant to Cedar Apple Rust. A. alnifolia is not resistant to Cedar Apple Rust and therefore not fit to plant in KY where we have juniper trees everywhere, this includes Regent. A. grandiflora and A. arborea do well here. Bush cherries do well here in KY. I grow many of the Romance series. late frosts and freezes can limit their production. Otherwise they seem to be a very good plant here, with some fruit rotting here and there as all stone fruits in this region suffer from. Other bush cherries like Nanking do fine, but again late freezes and frosts can limit production.
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Yes a very tasty gooseberry. Very similar to a nice table grape. Not terribly productive.
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I planted three Romance cherries 5 years ago, Crimson Passion, Juliet and Romeo. CP died after two years, but was a scrawny plant when I got it. Romeo is still alive, but only about 3ft tall, no fruit yet. Juliet had a massive root ball, and is now huge. It’s over 7ft tall, 5ft wide. It’s bloomed the last three years, but no fruit because of late freezes. Here’s a pic of it in full bloom a few days ago.
Gooseberries have been a mixed bag, planted 5 plants over the last five years. Hinnomaki Red died twice on me, but Oregon Champion, Jeanne and Poorman are still alive. OC is by far the largest, over 4ft tall, 3ft wide, it’s the only one to produce, last year we got a gallon of fruit off it. The other two haven’t produced anything.
Can’t comment on currants or serviceberries, never planted them.
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Maybe, but I’ve not had 'em all yet…and it’s easy to raise.
My one Black Velvet hasn’t produced enough in 3 years to even give it a fair trial… Poorman is good. I have Jeanne and Hinnomaki (too sour) and a couple more I can’t recall at the moment.
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My Black Velvet grows almost straight up and about six foot tall. Which explains why mine is so productive I guess. Funny how we all grade them differently. I certainly think the Red Hinnomaki needs to be quite ripe to be at it’s best. I don’t like Poorman and it hasn’t produced much. I let someone come and pick his own. He picked several varieties. He is from Germany and moved to the US as a young man. So he’s a bit more familiar with these fruits than the typical American. He called back the next day after making jam. He wanted to pick more Black Velvet. I gave him some cuttings. Our microclimates probably make a big difference.
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Captivator and Invicta have done very well for us in KY. Black Velvet seems to grow slower and more wispy. Hinnomaki Red has done very well also. All gooseberries.
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easy in IL: Serviceberry, gooseberry, I’ve got a young currant but that’s all for them. Mine are in full sun in clay. No tattered foliage but my clay is moist, always…
Jostaberry is a filler plant imo. It’s no-where near as good as gooseberries which I love.
Regent serviceberry is awesome. It has a large berry tasting exactly as a blueberry. Autumn Brilliance isn’t large but is good. Honeywood has giant fruit. My buddy has one that’s over 10-years old. I like Regent’s flavor best. Honeywood is my buddy’s favorite.
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you sure it late frosts not pollination Bob? all 4 of mine got zapped in the mid 20’s regularly in bloom and fruiting and still produce. next to honeyberries they are one of the most cold hardy fruit i grow.
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Regent, etc., don’t perform in zone 6b very much.
Or zone 7.
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I was wondering. Thank you, Blue.
Dax
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got a apple, jb 30, northline and a wild serviceberry in my spruce hedge. the northline gave me a handful of berries. was very good. so were the wild ones but smaller. the rest are too young yet. they grow pretty slow in these parts. gooseberry, currant, and bush cherry grow very fast. they love our cool short summers. once they come out of dormancy they grow like crazy. only the heat in early july starts to slow them down some.
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thank you for the cultivar advice and the growing, Steveman. I removed a ton of ornamentals today and opened up a lot of space all around my other gooses and services.
Dax
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you want to try some cuttings, let me know. i got a rare Russian cultivar you may be interested in.
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please, yes.
pm me your addy again and ill send you some more goodies. 
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A quick blueberry question for folks here including @blueberry and @blueberrythrill and anyone else with a lot of experience with them. Someone on facebook who runs a local nursery keeps telling people not to plant blueberries in the spring but wait until fall since the roots will have time to settle in before growth in the spring. I’ve planted blueberries a bunch of times and even transplanted in the middle of the summer from a container grown plant to the ground and never seen them suffer if grown right. Is there really any information that shows fall planting is better for blueberries?
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