Jahns Prairie Gooseberry vs American Black Currant - TreeTime.ca

Jahns Prairie Gooseberry vs American Black Currant

Ribes oxyacanthoides Jahns Prairie

Ribes americanum

CUSTOM GROW

CUSTOM GROW

Jahns Prairie Gooseberry
American Black Currant

Jahns Prairie Gooseberry produces large, delicious red fruit.

Found in the Red Deer River valley by Dr. Otto Jahn in 1984. This cultivar was found to resist insects and disease, tolerate frost, and produce high quality fruit.

American Black Currant is a native deciduous shrub known for its clusters of small black berries that ripen in mid-to-late summer. The berries are edible and have long been used for fresh eating, preserves, and baking. They provide food for birds and mammals, and their fragrant spring flowers attract bees and other pollinators.

American Black Currant’s foliage serves as a host plant for butterfly species such as the Green Comma and Gray Comma, and its dense branching offers cover for wildlife. The shrub has traditionally been planted in shelterbelts, riparian buffers, and restoration projects.

Jahns Prairie Gooseberry Quick Facts

American Black Currant Quick Facts

Zone: 3a
Zone: 2a
Height: 1.5 m (5 ft)
Height: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Spread: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Spread: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Light: full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: normal, wet
Moisture: normal, wet
Growth rate: fast
Growth rate: fast
Life span: short
Life span: medium
Growth form: upright to spreading, thicket-forming
Spreading: seeds - medium
Suckering: none
Maintenance: medium


Fall colour: yellow
Fall colour: gold to red
Flowers: small, yellowish bell-shaped, in clusters
Bloom time: spring to early summer
Berries: red-pink berries
Berries: black, edible
Flavor: tart, variable
Harvest: mid to late July
Harvest: mid to late summer
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: AB, SK, MB, ON, QC, NS, NB
Other Names: eastern black currant, wild black currant