Ribes aureum (golden currant) worth keeping?

[Tropicaltoba]

Has anyone grown golden currant? I’ve got a couple of bushes that I’ve never been able to get ripe fruit from (poor production due to shade and something eating the fruits). Has anyone grown this? I wonder if it’s worth putting more effort into production/protection?

[UnicornEmily]

I haven't grown them yet, but I keep reading online that they're sweeter than black currants and better for eating straight off the bush, so I'm planning to grow them.

[Tropicaltoba]

I moved them to a sunnier position in a raised bed this fall. I’m hoping that this and an extra year of maturity will allow more berries to set. I’ll try to update if I remember.

[UnicornEmily]

I hope it works, too!

Do you have the cultivar Crandall?  I've heard that one is particularly tasty.

[Tropicaltoba]

That’s the one I have, grows well as a bush even in a shadier area. Looks good from an aesthetic standpoint. Just needs to be more productive. Send me a message in the fall if I forget to post.

[Tropicaltoba]

So an update. My golden currant bushes produced well this year. Planted in a pretty shaded area, but received more sun due to neighbors elms getting ded. Also had a much wetter summer than average. I think they may be used to a sunnier drier climate (not native to my province). Berries ripening later than my red currants, and about the same time as my gooseberries. The flavor and yield is “fine”, nothing compared to my cultivated currants or gooseberries. They were quite small and reminded me of black currants, but I’m not sure how accurate that is as I haven’t grown any in 10 years because I didn’t like them.

[UnicornEmily]

I've discovered that golden currants seem to be extremely drought tolerant, which is very exciting.  They are often used for xeriscaped landscaping here, and they even fruit successfully.  On top of that, I sorta kinda forgot to water my brand new Crandall clove currant for three months in intense heat and no rainfall, and it survived just fine.  Full sun, too.  So, I think those plants are very impressive survivors.

[Tropicaltoba]

Another update:

After letting them ripen on the shrub longer I found the flavour has improved significantly.i have the black variety not the gold ones. yes they do appear to be very drought tolerant.in conclusion they are worth keeping.

[CarolinaZone]

Ok. Can you describe the taste? I haven't yet had a black currwnt that I liked .

[Tropicaltoba]

It’s been a while since I tasted it, and my vocabulary is often limited to 4 letter words, so I can’t accurately describe it. I detest traditional Black currants, I used to grown them for my mother in law.  I have the black cultivar but it did not taste like a “black currant” when fully ripe. I liked it as much as my best gooseberries. I’m honing to hunt down a traditional golden one for next year.

[usirius]

1.545 / 5.000
So, I'm a little disappointed with "Golden Courrant" (Ribes aureum). I have several black-fruited varieties as well as one orange-fruited variety.

For all of them, it should be said that the yield is very low in relation to the size of the bush, in any case much lower than with conventional black currants (Ribes nigrum) or red currants (Ribes rubrum)

Then they do not ripen uniformly. You have to come several times at intervals of several days to harvest and that is very time-consuming, including sorting when picking.

It should also be said that the berries all have a fairly long dried-up flower residue, similar to gooseberries )Ribes uva-crispa) , which has to be removed manually by pinching or cutting, so it does not fall off on its own.

The taste of the black varieties is disappointing. It is only somewhat similar to the conventional black currants, but this aroma actually lasts. The aroma is very flat.

The orange selection, on the other hand, has a somewhat exotic taste, but the berries are smaller and also hang on small panicles, which makes harvesting very laborious. Here too, there are different ripe berries at the same time and on the same panicle, which makes harvesting even more difficult, as does pinching off the stems and the dried flower remains.

All in all, I have decided to completely uproot Rubus aureum, in my opinion it is not worth cultivating if you can fall back on other Ribes.