A Gooseberry Affair Paul Lee Cannon is a freelance journalist who’s written for The American Gardener, the San Jose Mercury News, and the… More From This Author By: Paul Lee Cannon

In the January 2012 issue of Pacific Horticulture, the author shared the details of his love affair with the wild currants of the West. Here, he continues with the closely related gooseberries. All of these species of Ribes warrant consideration for West Coast gardens.

If the wild currants (Ribes species) of the West, which I wrote about in the last issue of Pacific Horticulture, are uncommon in gardens, the species of Ribes known as gooseberries are virtually unknown. Only one species is occasionally seen in gardens, and usually only in those of native plant enthusiasts. The gooseberries offer a subtle beauty, albeit juxtaposed against spiny stems and fruits that can, admittedly, be off-putting. The wild currants may offer showier flowers, but the gooseberries often produce tastier fruits. Easily grown in a variety of garden situations in the West, the gooseberries deserve to be discovered.

Gooseberries have spines—often sharp and dense—on stems, leaves, sepals, and fruits. Their leaves are usually non-viscous and only occasionally aromatic. With few exceptions, goose-berries are deciduous, often dropping their leaves in response to the lack of soil moisture during the West’s long dry summers. Unlike the more upright habit of currants, gooseberries tend to be more spreading in their habit. Unless otherwise noted below: all species prefer part sun to shade, and require good drainage and little water in summer; all are hardy to at least 10°F; most grow with relative speed; all have small flowers that are attractive to hummingbirds, bees, and other insect pollinators, and have fruits that are popular with robins, mockingbirds, thrashers, grosbeaks, and other birds less likely to hang out at a feeder. [When known, Sunset climate zones are shown in brackets.]

Ribes amarum

Bitter gooseberry is a sprawling, spiny, twiggy shrub, from three to six feet tall, with a sticky, bitter fruit. Red and white flowers sparkle against shiny, dark green leaves. Native from Central California to San Diego’s higher elevations, it prefers full shade and moist soils.