Ribes rubrum Blanka - Whitecurrant

The Whitecurrant Bush (Ribes rubrum) Blanka is a variety producing clusters of white berries, slightly golden. These fruits have a sweet flavour and are juicy and fragrant. This self-fertile variety is vigorous and productive. Easy to grow in non-scorching sun, in well-drained, even poor soil, requiring support. Plant from October to March for a harvest around July.

The Redcurrant Bush, also known as Ribes rubrum, belongs to the Grossulariaceae family, like the Gooseberry Bush. It is a plant that has been cultivated for a long time, and it grows spontaneously in many temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, from Europe to Siberia, to Manchuria. The Redcurrant is a bushy shrub, non-thorny, with a clump-like habit of slightly stiff, sparsely branched branches, with soft wood. This very hardy bush will reach 1.50m (4 ft 11in) in all directions. The foliage is deciduous, composed of palmate, lobed, and aromatic leaves of medium green.

Flowering takes place in spring, in the form of clusters of small, inconspicuous green to brownish flowers, intensely visited by bees. Fruiting mainly occurs on one or two year old branches. The bush is then covered with numerous clusters of small round and translucent berries, containing small seeds. Harvesting takes place as the fruits ripen. The Blanka variety produces long clusters of white fruits, to be picked from early July. The currants have a white, juicy and fragrant flesh. Whether white or red, currants are low in calories, rich in minerals and trace elements as well as potassium, calcium, and phosphorus. They also provide a good source of vitamin C and fibre.

Use fresh currants, in jelly, in pastries for pie fillings, or for sorbet making. In the garden, this bush, modest for much of the year, becomes attractive when it is laden with its long clusters that play with the summer light. The pleasure is threefold, visual and gastronomic but also olfactory when its warm foliage fills the garden with fragrance. It pairs well with red currant varieties, gooseberry bushes, and also with shrubs that offer beautiful fruiting (not edible), such as Leycesteria formosa, beautyberries, Nandina domestica and its varieties, Japanese quinces, small-leaved Cotoneaster, St. John's wort Magical Beauty, symphorines... For small gardens, or to save space, it is advised to train this currant bush against a wall or prune it as a standard. Note that the currant bush can be grown in a terrace orchard, as it does quite well in large pots, with a depth of at least 40cm (15in). Be careful not to water it with too calcareous water.