Lowbush Blueberry vs Ben Sarek Black Currant - TreeTime.ca

Lowbush Blueberry vs Ben Sarek Black Currant

Ribes nigrum Ben Sarek

Vaccinium angustifolium

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

Ben Sarek Black Currant
Lowbush Blueberry

Ben Sarek Black Currant is a compact, high-yielding Black Currant cultivar, making it ideal for smaller gardens and easy berry picking. The large clusters of flavourful, sweet-tart berries ripen in mid-summer and are perfect for fresh eating, preserves, baked goods, and liqueurs. Plants may start producing some berries after two years, reaching full production in about four to five.

Developed by the Scottish Crop Research Institute, Ben Sarek Black Currant is resistant to powdery mildew and moderately resistant to white pine blister rust. It is self-fertile, meaning it does not require cross-pollination from another variety to produce fruit.

Lowbush Blueberry, commonly known as the Wild Lowbush Blueberry, is often wild-harvested and thrives in low pH acidic soil. This early low-bush blueberry produces white and pink bell-shaped flowers in the spring. Its fruit is smaller in size than high bush blueberry plants and is more flavourful with an intense blueberry taste-masking it perfect for fresh eating, baking, and preserves.

Note: Blueberries require very specific soil conditions. They need well-drained soil with a pH between 4.5 and 5.0. If the starting pH of your soil is between 5.1 and 6.2 you can lower it by adding sulfur. We recommend against planting blueberries in soil with a starting pH greater than 6.2. Please do your own research before buying any blueberry plants.

Ben Sarek Black Currant Quick Facts

Lowbush Blueberry Quick Facts

Zone: 3a
Zone: 2a
Height: 1.1 m (4 ft)
Height: 0.3 m (1.0 ft)
Spread: 1.1 m (4 ft)
Spread: 0.3 m (1.0 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: normal
Moisture: normal
Growth rate: fast
Growth rate: medium
Life span: short
Life span: medium
Growth form: compact, dense, rounded
Spreading: layering - low
Suckering: none
Maintenance: medium
Maintenance: high


Foliage: aromatic when crushed
Flowers: greenish-yellow
Flowers: white, pink tinged, bell shaped
Bloom time: early to mid spring
Berries: black currants, edible
Berries: edible blue
Flavor: sweet-tart
Harvest: mid-summer
Harvest: July
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: MB, ON, QC, NS, NB, NL, PE
Other Names: ben sarek blackcurrant
Other Names: late lowbush blueberry, late sweet blueberry, wild lowbush blueberry