Not too long ago I posted that I have a clove currant which has never made
more than a few berries. It must have internet access, because it has made
a liar out of me by this year producing enough berries for me to enjoy some
and to share with others interested in this rare event. Crop is nearly done
now; season was just after/slightly overlapping the Timm & Success juneberry
season.
Seed production is shy, maybe 2 seeds per 10 berries. Berries stay on the
canes, often even if full ripe and drying up. Less ripe berries taste like
tart red currants, mid-ripe taste like a mild wild grape, over-ripe berries
taste like a low quality blueberry. Ripe berries are black. This is the
vigorous clove currant, 6' or taller except that tall canes arch over;
suckering/spreading shrub; wonderful rich fragrance when blooming; gets a
late season leaf disease &/or has early senescence. Very drought tolerant--
the one I planted on a high-dry hilltop produced proportionally as much
fruit as the one planted where it gets some rainwater off a roof. (The
dry-site one is smaller, though.)
I thought I should offer to NAFEX Ribes people the seeds I've collected, in
case this fruit production is a rare event and I should send the seeds to
people who know what they're doing. (Or is this nothing unusual, just a
simple thing like the flowers finally attracted the right pollinator?)
tc, s.WI, more surprised by these currants than by the drought & heat