Currants & gooseberries · Dave Wilson Nursery

Black Velvet Gooseberry

A gooseberry you can eat off the bush: large, sweet, deep purple berries that look like blueberries when fully ripe, on a bush that resists mildew and winter cold. Gooseberries are native to Arizona's mountains and want cool summers, so plant it at mid elevation or in the high country with afternoon shade, and wear gloves for the thorns. Not a low desert plant.

3 varieties

Chill hours: 800–1200 hours
Harvest: July to August at mid elevation and in the high country
Pollination: Self-fruitful
Mature size: 3–4 ft tall and wide; easy to hold at 3 ft with winter pruning

How it comes

Potted

Grown on in a pot and shipped dormant, roots already established. One size, already a season ahead of a bare-root tree.

$15

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USDA zones 4–8. In Arizona, best in the mid elevations and the high country.

Which one

Every currants & gooseberrie side by side

Same fruit, different seasons and different jobs. Pick the row that fits your ground and your calendar.

	A gooseberry you can eat off the bush: large, sweet, deep purple berries that look like blueberries when fully ripe, on a bush that resists mildew and winter cold. Gooseberries are native to Arizona's mountains and want cool summers, so plant it at mid elevation or in the high country with afternoon shade, and wear gloves for the thorns. Not a low desert plant.	A medium red gooseberry with a slightly tangy skin and very sweet flesh, on an upright bush that resists mildew. Of the Ribes here it is the one rated for warmer winters, but summer heat is still the limit, so grow it at mid elevation or in the high country, out of the afternoon sun. Wear gloves, since the stems are thorny.	A tart-sweet red currant that hangs in long loose clusters, very productive and winter hardy, and rated by many as the best red currant. Arizona extension lists it for the state's mid elevations, and Arizona is a low-risk area for pine blister rust. It needs cool summers, so it is a mid elevation and high country plant, with afternoon shade at lower sites.
Harvest	July to August at mid elevation and in the high country	July to August at mid elevation and in the high country	July at mid elevation; July to August in the high country
Chill hours	800–1200 hours	600–1000 hours	800–1200 hours
Pollination	Self-fruitful	Self-fruitful	Self-fruitful
Mature size	3–4 ft tall and wide; easy to hold at 3 ft with winter pruning	3–4 ft tall and wide, upright; easy to hold at 3 ft with pruning	4–5 ft tall and wide; hold at 4 ft by cutting out old canes
From	$15	$15	$15