Jams & Jellies

Fruit that makes excellent jam, jelly, preserves and fruit butter, including the crabapples and currants that gel without added pectin. Everything here scored 6 or higher out of 10 for jams and jellies.

More about fruit for jams and jellies

Concord grape topped our jam and jelly scores at 10 out of 10. It's rated to zone 4, though, which puts it on the edge in Missoula. If your winters are colder, Valiant grape scored 8, is rated to zone 2 and has a Concord-like flavor. Balaton tart cherry, chokecherry, Dolgo crabapple, Red Lake currant and Sparkle strawberry all scored 9. Sparkle isn't great fresh, but it makes fantastic jam.

A lot of good jelly fruit grows on tough shrubs. Chokecherry, golden currant, Nanking cherry, sand cherry and buffaloberry are all rated to zone 2 and scored 8 or 9. A few need company to fruit. Plant two Nanking cherries (Jules and Ian White work together), and buffaloberry plants are male or female, so set out all five. Golden currant and buffaloberry are seldom badly damaged by deer.

For the coldest spots, Dolgo crabapple is rated to zone 1b and Siberian crabapple to zone 1 (-60°F), with tiny fruit for deep red jelly. Dolgo is also a top pollenizer for other apples, so it pulls double duty. See our Best Of berries for jams and jellies, and use the pollination maps to plan partners.

Questions we get

What fruit makes jelly without pectin?

Crabapples and currants gel without added pectin. Dolgo crabapple and Red Lake currant both scored 9 out of 10 for jams and jellies.

What is the hardiest grape for jelly?

Valiant. It took -50°F and still cropped the next year, it's rated to zone 2, and it scored 8 for jams and jellies. Concord scored 10 but is only rated to zone 4.