Pine currant

Survives zone 5 through 9

Harvest calendar

Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.

Also called orange gooseberry — a high-elevation species of Arizona/New Mexico coniferous forest, hardy to about -20°C. Fruit has an agreeable gooseberry flavour but is densely covered in spines, so is more work to harvest than most currants here.

Hardiness

Zone 5–9

Habit

Shrub

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

Summer

Mature size

Spiny deciduous shrub 1–2 m

Light

Full sun

Soil pH

5.0–7.5 (acid to mildly alkaline) — tolerates very acid soil

Environment

Montane, temperate

Native range

Arizona and New Mexico — coniferous forest, 1,900–3,100 m elevation.

Status

Wild

Years to fruit

2–3 yrs

Growth speed

Medium

Spacing

150 cm (59 in) apart — about 2.3 m² (24 sq ft) per plant

Leaf shape

Alternate, rounded and deeply 3–5 lobed, 1.5–4 cm across, with the spiny stems typical of the gooseberry group.

Root system

Shallow and fibrous, the bulk of it in the top 30–45 cm and spreading wider than the bush is tall. Two consequences worth planning for: it dries out quickly in a hot summer, so mulch and water rather than cultivate around it, and low branches that touch the ground will often layer themselves, which is the easiest way to get a new plant.

Fruit description

Orange, up to 1.5 cm, densely spined, gooseberry flavour

Propagation

Seed (sown fresh in autumn, or 3 months cold stratification at 0-5°C if stored), half-ripe cuttings in July–August, or hardwood cuttings November–February.

Pollination

Hermaphrodite, insect-pollinated.

The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.