Ribes Ben Nevis Black Currant

Ribes Ben Nevis, also known as Ribes Nigrum Ben Nevis or Ben Nevis Black Currant
A deciduous fruiting shrub, Ribes Ben Nevis combines practicality and beauty in one undemanding plant. While primarily grown for its culinary use, this lovely shrub does offer other qualities as well. This handsome small shrub will reward you with a tasty crop of black berries in mid to late summer. Ribes Nigrum Ben Nevis also offers multiple seasons of ornamental interest. After insignificant small white flowers, Ben Nevis Black Currant produces tart and juicy berries that have a range of culinary and dessert uses. Gardeners use these black berries to prepare preserves, make wine, use as filling in baked goods, or simply picked fresh and eaten as is. To boot, this cultivar is self-pollinating, so you will not have to plant in pairs for it to produce fruits.

Ribes Nigrum Ben Nevis is a naturally erect fruiting shrub, with eye-catching lobed leaves that offer interest throughout the season. The foliage starts out medium green but turns to a nice yellow shade in the autumn.

Height and Spread of Ribes Ben Nevis
A small to medium-sized shrub with a moderate growth rate, Ribes Nigrum Ben Nevis is expected to reach an ultimate height of 2 metres in 2 to 5 years. The maximum expected spread of the shrub is also 2 metres.

How Hardy is Ribes Ben Nevis
A North American native, Ben Nevis Black Currant is a robust little shrub. It fares well in cold winters, surviving even in areas where temperatures drop to 20 degrees below zero and it is fully hardy in the United Kingdom. This shrub is also deer and rabbit resistant.

How To Use Ribes Ben Nevis
The most common reason why gardeners opt for Ribes Nigrum Ben Nevis is for its fruit: the crops of summer berries are delicious and have many culinary uses. It does not hurt, however, that Ben Nevis Black Currant is easy on the eyes so it can also be combined with other plants in the garden to offer some ornamental interest, as well. The dense, deeply lobed foliage can look rather attractive in mixed shrub borders for flower beds, as it provides exceptional texture.

How To Care For Ribes Ben Nevis
Easy to grow and care for, Ben Nevis Black Currant will thrive in most soils, as long as they are moist but well-drained. Choose a planting spot in full sun to partial shade.

Lots more berries and soft fruit here.