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Expertly Grown in the UK
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autumn-sale

'Ben Hope' Blackcurrant Bush

The nation's favourite

Grown by John

South Downs National Park

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'Ben Hope' Blackcurrant Bush Soft Fruit
'Ben Hope' Blackcurrant Bush Soft Fruit

£11

In stock

Perfectly happy plants, or your money back

Specialist overnight plant delivery

The highlights

  • Bold, punchy blackcurrant flavour
  • Great resistance to gall mite
  • Make your own cordial or eat fresh
  • Harvest from July to August

Description

  • 'Ben Hope' is the most widely-grown blackberry cultivar in the UK, and was first bred by the Scottish Crops Research Institute (who also bred varieties like 'Ben Connan' and 'Ben Alder') back in the 1980s, so it's fair to say this variety has pedigree!
  • A heavy cropping variety, 'Ben Hope' yields bunches of blackcurrants with exceptional flavour (with each berry typically weighing over 1g) throughout the latter parts of summer
  • Like some of the other Ben blackcurrant varieties, 'Ben Hope' displays great pest and disease resistance, particularly to gall mites, powdery mildew and leaf spot
  • If you're able to stop yourself from eating all the blackcurrants straight off the bush - and no judgment if you can't - then make yourself a batch of homemade cordial or rustle up a latticework blackcurrant pie
  • The blackcurrant plant, Ribes nigrum, has been certified by the Royal Horticultural Society as one of its Plants for Pollinators, proving beneficial to bees in particular

What To Expect

Supplied as:

Potted plant
Garden-ready plant in a 9cm pot
3L Pot

Height on arrival:

20-30cm

Eventual height:

1-2m

Eventual spread:

1-2m
Spreads approximately 1-2m.
1-2m
Spreads approximately 1-2m.

Tasting notes:

Delicately sweet and brilliantly aromatic
Delicately sweet and brilliantly aromatic

Time to first crop:

2 years
Typically starts bearing fruit in its second year.

Flower colour:

Yellow
Insignificant, chartreuse-yellow flowers bloom in spring
Yellow
Insignificant, chartreuse-yellow flowers bloom in spring

Habit:

Bushy
Grows into an attractive upright bush.
Bushy
Grows into an attractive upright bush.

Hardiness:

Fully hardy
H6 - Cold hardy in even severe British winters, being able to withstand temperatures down to -20°C.
Fully hardy
H6 - Cold hardy in even severe British winters, being able to withstand temperatures down to -20°C.

Self fertile:

Self fertile
Self fertile

Uses:

Eating fresh, jams, juicing, wine-making and baking
Eating fresh, jams, juicing, wine-making and baking

Rootstock:

Spacing:

1.5m
Plant 1.5m apart to allow for spreading.

How To Grow

Excellent pest and disease resistance

Displays great resistance to diseases like leaf spot and powedery mildew. Use bird-safe netting to prevent your feathered friends from getting at your currants.

Water well when establishing

To help your blackcurrant plant establish nicely, water it well throughout its first growing season. Once established, however, additional watering will only usually be needed during hot and dry spells.

Full sun to partial shade

To get the best fruit from your blackcurrant bush, plant it in full sun (at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day). It will, however, tolerate some shade.

Any moist, well-drained soil

Generally unfussy with regards to soil type, but prefers moist, well-draining soil where possible.

Feed in winter

Blackcurrant plants like 'Ben Hope' appreciate a good winter feed with a high-potassium fertiliser, and also a mulch around the plant's base, making sure to leave a small gap between the mulch and the plant's stems.

Planting Calendar

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  • Best time to plant
  • Harvest
  • Flower

South Downs National Park

Meet John

110 years' expertise free with every plant

You simply can’t buy better fruit plants and here’s why. John grows them outdoors, just like his family has done since 1908, so they’re more than a match for the UK weather. John only has time for the top performing varieties, meaning that you can be assured of a successful (and blooming tasty) soft fruit crop.

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Our plants are grown 
in the UK

Specialist UK growers we know and trust grow your plants the traditional way, with organic fertiliser and biological pest control. They pick only the healthiest plants for you, professionally pruning them so that they’ll grow strong and well shaped.

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Your plants are sent to you fresh from the field in our plastic free box that’s specially designed to hold them tight, then securely delivered by specialist plant couriers - straight from the grower to your garden within 
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We want your plants to have a long and healthy life. Expect easy-to-follow grow guides and videos devised by our team 
of experts.

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perfectly happy.

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We deliver to anywhere in Mainland UK for our standard delivery cost. We are able to deliver most plants to Highlands and non UK mainland however this will be at an additional cost. This will be calculated at the checkout. Please note, deliveries to these locations will take longer. Unfortunately, we are not able to deliver to Northern Ireland at present.

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