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  • From: "Brungardt, Sam (MPCA)" <sam.brungardt@state.mn.us>
  • To: Jeffrey Boulier <boulierinasia@yahoo.com>, "mailing list at ibiblio - Northamerican Allied Fruit Experimenters" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [nafex] Non-Crandall Clove Currant?
  • Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2014 22:37:11 +0000

Jeff, to my knowledge the only nursery that ever offered R. odoratum
seedlings was Bear Creek, in northeastern Washington State. Unfortunately,
that nursery has been out of business for a number of years.

I don't know if anyone really knows whether the true vegetatively propagated
Crandall selection still exists. The Repository at Corvallis has a clonal
selection, which was donated by either a nursery, breeder, or an enthusiast.
Whether it is actually the true Crandall is something I don't think anyone
knows. The original selection was made before 1900 in Kansas. I grew up in
west-central Kansas, where buffalo currants grow wild and bear profusely. I
have grown Crandall here in Minnesota and although the plant I had here bore
heavily, it ripened in late August instead of about July 4 as it ripens in
Kansas. The selection I grew here in St. Paul lacked the really rich and
sweet flavor of the wild currants we picked in Kansas. I don't think its
flowers were as fragrant, either. However, the traits my Crandall plant
displayed in Minnesota may have been greatly affected by the climate and
amount of heat available during ripening.

I wish someone would test a number of wild clove currant selections to see if
any are superior to the Crandall currant that is available from nurseries
today. Clove currants are not difficult to establish from seed; my mother
used to throw out the water she washed them in (which also contained a lot of
seeds from burst berries) in a rough spot near our farmhouse, and eventually
she had a patch of seedlings. However, they never bore enough currants to
meet her needs. To get that amount the whole family went currant picking
each summer along the creeks and roadsides as well as in our pastures.

My dad's favorite pie was wild currant pie, which IS delicious served warm
with vanilla ice cream. Mom canned wild currants so he could have currant
pie anytime she found the time to make it. And mom made lots of wild currant
jelly. She even helped me make wine from wild currants one year.

We've sort of pussyfooted around the R. odoratum-R. aureum debate that
botanists are engaged in. Prof. Nils Hansen made a number of golden current
selections at South Dakota State University a number of years ago, but I
think all of those have been lost. -- Sam Brungardt, St. Paul, Minn.

-----Original Message-----
From: nafex [mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Jeffrey
Boulier via nafex
Sent: Friday, December 05, 2014 6:05 PM
To: Mailing List at Ibiblio - Northamerican Allied Fruit Experimenters
Subject: [nafex] Non-Crandall Clove Currant?

Hi folks,
Is anyone aware of a nursery (or collector) selling non-Crandall selections
of Ribes Odoratum/Clove currant? I have checked my usual suspects, and only
"Crandall" and generic ones come up. Lee Reich mentions that Crandall is not
a single clonal variety, with some seedlings having been sold under that
name, but since I have no way of telling if the Crandall I already have is
the same as that from other suppliers, I'd like something that is
definitively different.
Thanks,Jeff
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