My goumis, which came from Hidden Springs Nursery in 2004 with no
varietal name indicated, have been something of a disappointment. I got
my first crop this spring (in May!) and found the fruit -- of which
there wasn't much -- rather insipid. From two plants I got barely two
cups of juice. Perhaps the yield and flavor will improve in later
seasons, but the goumi's performance is unimpressive compared to my
autumn olives, also from Hidden Springs (my favorite nursery), which I
use to make jelly.
The AOs -- which USDA has sensibly renominated "Autumnberry" because
there's nothing olive-like about the fruit -- began bearing in the
second year and regularly produce more than 20 pounds of fruit each with
casual harvesting. They require no care, respond to top pruning by
producing more and larger fruits on the remaining branches, seem
indifferent to drought and temperature extremes, and shrug off extremely
heavy browsing by the whitetailed deer that infest my property. I bought
all six varieties HS offers, and like them all, but the sport called
Charlies Golden is so clearly the best that I have planted four more of
them. The fruit is an attractive golden yellow, the yield is high and
the flavor is outstanding.