Blackcurrant Ebony

[Tony Hague]

I've got 3 of these in fruit for the first time this year.

Allegedly they are larger fruited than normal blackcurrants, and significantly sweeter. Well, bigger is true. But even though some of the berries are shrivelling a bit, they are still green inside and not well flavoured. Anyone else have experience of this variety ? I'm tempted to dig them up if this is as good as they get.

[glallotments]

We have an ebony but it is new and hasn't really fruited yet so I can't say much about flavour. The one or two berries we have picked haven't been green inside though. We have other blackcurrants too and the thing I noticed is that ebony seems to be growing into a totally different shape - most of our blackcurrants are very upright in habit but ebony seems to be more 'sprawly' if that is a word.

[PLUMPUDDING]

I got a small crop from my new Ebony this year and though they are quite sweet I wouldn't say they were very much sweeter than my others if at all when they are all nice and ripe. As you say, they are nice large berries though.

[Tony Hague]

Did your go black all way through ? I've got marble sized berries, which are black on the outside but green and seedy like a gooseberry inside. They are starting to shrivel, so must surely be as ripe as they will get.

If that's what they produce, I don't like them. Current thought is to waste no more time with them, take the netting off and let the birds enjoy them it they like, then grub them up to make way for more strawberries.

[oldherbaceous]

Tony, it sounds more as if you have got a Jostaberry!

[glallotments]

I have a few jostaberry plants and the berries aren't sour or bitter even though they are green inside.

[PLUMPUDDING]

Sorry I don't know what colour they were inside, I just ate them. They were pleasant enough though, I wouldn't get rid of the plant.

One thing I have noticed is that the bush doesn't seem as sturdy as my other varieties of blackcurrant.

[Colin Miles]

I have one Ebony plant. Last year established itself, this year produced quite a reasonable crop, but they weren't particularly large or sweet, though I did have them with my cereal for breakfast. From memory Ben Connan was better.

[Geoff]

According to the Food Programme on R4 you should look for new non-British Blackcurrant strains as the UK ones require a cold Winter to fruit properly and with global warming will be unreliable. Might explain why my five foot high bushes are weighed down to the ground with fruit this year - they are Ben Lomond.