@alliumnate … Nate… thanks for the details on the gooseberry Jeanne.
I have 2 ordered from Lucille at Whitmans Farms now.
I will give them a try here in a location that gets sun from early morning until about 2 pm.
PS… I grafted 3 carmine goumi scions last year (to my red gem and sweet scarlet) and they all grew well. They have loads of blossoms on them now. Hopefully I get to enjoy several carmine goumi fruit this year. Thanks again on that.
TNHunter
Hinnomaki Red is my absolute all-time favorite. I’m not really a gooseberry fan (too bland and too mushy overall), but those Hinnomaki Reds have an amazing complex flavor. Too bad it’s a whole lot more slower growing than the others. I can’t wait for it to be big enough to take a bunch of cuttings.
I’m going to take inspiration from you yet again @Gkight and try currants too in Z10. I know that’s really pushing it. Will post once I have some.
Put em in the coolest spot of your yard, I think nearly fully shaded and will likely need a lot of water in summer heat to remain cool enough to not stay constantly heat stressed. I’ll also manually defoliate them if need be, plants want to live just sometimes need some assistance
Makes sense! I’ll put them near the haskaps 
… where did you source yours btw?
Ogw, they came really nice size. But I got them in fall so that’s likely why they were so big
Anyone know where they sell green culinary (tart) european varieties like Careless or Leveller? Are these white pine blister rust resistant? Finding them hard to source. What have people’s experiences been with Invicta or Whitesmith?
Anyone know when Hinnomäki’ green gooseberries are going to be available? Are they White Pine Rust resistant?
Whitmanfarm has leveller listed on her website
Question i regards to black velvet. I just ordered one and had it delivered. How thorny is it supposed to be? I was under the impression it was supposed to be thorny, but this one has next to no thorns, and the one I did find is like a spine.
It is very upright tho.
It does have a few tiny berries on it as well. So I’ll wait and see, just curious since I thought it was supposed to be thorny…
Most improved cultivars of gooseberry aren’t as thorny as a thorny bramble, but my black velvet has more thorns than what I can see in your picture. Youll know in a year or two if its a black velvet, my black velvet has reached well over 6 feet (even after pruning) as compared to all my other varieties which have stayed under 4 feet.
That’s not Black Velvet. It’s thorny as hell and the bark is different. Greyish kind of. I’ll take a picture later if I remember.
edit:
Could it be soil or that you are in zone 10? I didn’t know the UK was that warm in winter.
I’m growing in big containers with a good soil mix (confirmed with a couple local folks on what blend to use), so while not impossible, I don’t think it’s the soil. But the climate is weird for the UK, that’s for sure. I’m in a tiny pocket of coastal microclimate that’s officially 10a. (I’ve had someone here - sorry, can’t remember who! - suggest that some of the UK climate zones might be “over” zoned, I don’t know enough to know if that’s true for this area or not, but I do know we almost never hit freezing.) Somtimes it never hits freezing; usually I get maybe 3 to 5 days a year with lows around 0°C and never lower than -1°C or -2°C. Wind chill sometimes down to -3°C (never seen it lower than that), and winter daytime highs never lower than around 5°C and usually warmer. We hit highs over 30°C at least a few times each summer. People around me grow stuff like bananas, citrus, and other “semi tender” / semi- or subtropical plants outdoors all year. (Can’t comment on whether they get fruit - most folks nearby seem to grow ornamentals, but you’ll see “isn’t this wacky” news articles each summer saying how someone’s backyard banana in London produced fruit, and down here it’s warmer than London.) I regularly harvest the last stragglers of my outdoor tomatoes mid December… So all that to say, maybe that’s my problem? I didn’t think gooseberries had a “chill hours” requirement, but now I’m curious if that’s what I’m missing. Is it possible that my weather just doesn’t get cold enough (or stays too hot, even with drip irrigation etc) for decent gooseberries?
Yeah I was under the impression it had thorns, it does have tiny berries on it, but I could probably hug the plant and not stab myself lol. Debating on contacting the nursery about it or not. Didn’t want to be alarmist if it infact barely has any thorns.
The bark might look a little weird due to lights in the room.
Sorry for the bad photography skills, that’s a pic of the 1 thorn I found on the entire plant, and the berry is currently has. The plant is wonderful and super nice. Now I’m just nervous it’s something else 
The thorn is zoomed in on so it looks huge btw, it reminds me of a cactus spine size wise fyi
maybe Cornwall? I’ve heard that area referred to as the “British Riviera” I would imagine your coastal climate moderates in both directions- warmer lows and lower highs compared to inland
Mine’s about five feet tall and has hundreds of thorns on it. One at every node I would guess.
I emailed the nursey about it. I hope it’s not a josta 
Well that would make me wonder, since my gramma’s mom grew gooseberries here in the US and made gooseberry pies, but her dad was born in Cornwall, England. (I doubt I have her recipe for that, but I do have it for mincemeat pie from early 1800s family English recipe.) Now I am just going to be thinking about what a climate difference they had as they left Cornwall to go to Sherbrooke County Quebec, before going to icy Minnesota, before my great gramma born there moved to Oregon and then Washington.
