Fruits as Ornamentals

by Marvin Pritts

Do you have that partially shady area where you would like to grow something besides hostas and low growing herbaceous perennials? Gooseberries and currants may be the solution. The right variety of gooseberry can produce delicious fruit, and the colors range from deep red to green to yellow. They thrive in just 6 hours of sun per day.

Currants are an even better choice because they are more disease resistant, and the colorful fruit can remain attached to the plant for weeks and still be edible. Currants come in red, white and black varieties. The clove currant (Ribes odoratum) produces delicious black fruits that follow fragrant yellow flowers.

Gooseberries are best for grazing because the fruits are eaten fresh (Poorman, Champion, Invicta and Welcome are good varieties).

Currant fruits, because of their seeds, are generally processed into juice or jelly.