If you’d like to be able to just walk out to the garden to pick your dessert fresh off the plant, the Black Velvet gooseberry is a good choice. The berries ripen to a rich, dark red, and the plants produce high yields once they’re established. Use them in fruit salad, as ice cream topping, in pies and preserves.

Characteristics:

• Mildew-resistant
• Mature height: 3 to 5 feet
• Mature width: 3 to 5 feet
• Hardiness Zones: 3 to 7
• Chill Hours: 1,000 (minimum)
• Sunlight: Partial to full
• Harvest time: June to July
• Bearing Age: Two to three years after planting
• Good for preserves, pies, fresh eating
• Cold-hardy to -40 degrees F

Have you ever grown Black Velvet gooseberries? Please tell us your favorite thing about them and your experiences growing Black Velvet gooseberries.