Currants hang in small bunches of glossy berries — red, white or pink — tart, tangy and full of vitamins, and they are the shrub of choice for jelly and jam. Give a currant (Ribes rubrum) cool, humus-rich soil that is not chalky, plus a spot in part-shade, and a hardy variety will crop generously with almost no fuss.
Plant some in your garden!
Before purchasing your currant bushes, there are several criteria to consider. First of all, the color of the fruits: they can be red, white or pink.
Secondly, the harvest date, which can range from end of June to August depending on the variety and the area you live in.
In any case, try to pick hardy varieties so that you can avoid having to treat them, and generally to make life easier.
‘Palluau fertile’ is a vigorous and productive shrub that produces nice bunches of bright red fruits, tart and tangy and particularly full of flavor.
‘Junifer’ also produces very tasty red berries at the beginning of July.
‘Versailles’, both white and red, is a heirloom variety that is quite vigorous and productive. Towards mid-July, it produces mild tasting fruits for the white variety; and juicy fruits perfect for making jam for the red variety.
‘Rolland’ is a variety that is well-known for its invulnerability to diseases. It produces red berries from mid-July onwards.
All four cultivars described above are vigorous and easy to look after, but they differ in fruit colour, picking time and what the berries are best used for. Use the table to settle on one before you go shopping.
| Cultivar | Fruit colour | Harvest | Best known for |
|---|---|---|---|
| ‘Palluau fertile’ | Bright red | Early to late summer | Vigorous and productive; tart, tangy, full of flavour |
| ‘Junifer’ | Red | Midsummer | Very tasty berries, among the earliest to ripen |
| ‘Versailles’ | White and red forms | Midsummer | Heirloom variety; mild white fruit, juicy red fruit for jam |
| ‘Rolland’ | Red | From midsummer onwards | Its resistance to disease |
Whichever you pick, a hardy variety saves you from having to treat the bush later on.
Transplant your currant plants from November to February (or in spring) in a cool and humus-rich soil (avoid chalk soil). Part-shade is best. Plant each stem, with the collar at ground level. Backfill – with compost – and water abundantly. Mulch and regularly water your plants in summer, especially if it is a hot and dry summer.
Once your shrub has settled in, all you have left to do every year is to remove those stems that are three years of age. Try to clear the center of the plant, so that light can reach inside. You can act preventively to reinforce your currant’s immune system, and spray fermented weed extracts such as nettle or horsetail. If powdery mildew appears, immediately remove infected branches.
M.-C. H.
