Ribes oxyacanthoides 'Jahn's Prairie'

Jahn's Prairie gooseberry

Ribes oxyacanthoides 'Jahn's Prairie'

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A favorite gooseberry here at Fern Hill, 'Jahn's Prairie' produces hearty yields of large dessert quality red-pink fruit in midsummer. This shrub grows more upright than some gooseberry varietes. Easy to grow in our climate, it is rsistant to rust, powdery mildew, leaf spot, grey mold, stem botrytis, aphids and saw flies.

 

Gooseberries are a great choice for small fruits in the Pacific Northwest.  They thrive in sun or dappled shade and handle soil conditions all the way from heavy clay to sandy loam. They grow to about 4 feet tall and wide, sometimes larger, but respond well to pruning.  We like to plant them in between fruit trees in an orchard or forest garden, as they feed pollinators early in the season, resist deer browsing due to their spines, and fruit well in the shade even after the taller trees mature. 

The fruit ripens early to mid-summer.  They are larger and sweeter than currants, with a range of color when ripe that includes grassy green, yellow-green, gold, rosy pink, cherry red, and dark purple.