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Black Velvet Gooseberry (Bundle of 2)
$59.99
Reliable shipping
Flexible returns
Ripening
Will it finish before your first hard freeze?
Check it on the Ripening Map (opens in a new tab)At a glance: Black Velvet Gooseberry is a gooseberry shrub rated hardy to zone 3 from other growers' reports (winters to -40°F), and self-fertile, so one plant can crop.
| Hardy to | Zone 3 to 7. A bare number means the whole of zone 3, colder half included (winters to -40°F). Find your zone with our cold hardiness calculator. |
|---|---|
| Pollination | Self-Fertile. Bloom group 3 of 7 (early-mid), very early spring here. Black Velvet sets fruit on its own, so one plant will crop. A second gooseberry variety nearby can give larger fruit set. Bloom group is our estimate from the variety's origin and relatives. Currant & Gooseberry Pollination Chart. |
| Good for | Fresh eating (8/10), pies and baking (7/10), jams and jellies (7/10), canning and freezing (6/10). Scores are our 1 to 10 ratings, but we're still new to this one, so they lean on published descriptions and other growers rather than our own harvests. 8 and up makes our Best Of lists. |
| Deer | Rarely bothered by deer. |
| What you get | Bare root, 1-2 ft. Shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring, roots wrapped in moist sawdust. Guaranteed to bud out. |
Overview
Black Velvet is a hybrid of gooseberry and Worcesterberry, described as having medium, dark red, sweet, high-quality fruit with a superb, almost blueberry-like flavor. This is our first year growing it, so we don’t have our own cold hardiness data for Montana yet, and the zone 3 rating above comes from other growers’ reports. We suspect it should be hardy to at least Zone 4, given half of its gooseberry parentage, but if you’re in a colder climate than Zone 4, we recommend sticking with other varieties for now.
Plant Size & Age
These Black Velvet Gooseberries are the large grade and are currently in 1-gallon pots, but will be bare rooted for Spring 2027. They are 3 years old.
Shipping restrictions: white pine blister rust quarantine
Gooseberries and currants (Ribes species) are alternate hosts for white pine blister rust. We cannot ship this plant to New Hampshire or North Carolina, where its sale or importation is prohibited by state law. North Carolina prohibits all Ribes statewide; New Hampshire permits only a short list of named rust-resistant cultivars, which does not include this variety.
Permit or county-level restrictions also apply in: Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and West Virginia (prohibited in specific counties or townships) and Delaware, Michigan, and Rhode Island (state permit required). Please check your local rules before ordering.
Orders placed to a prohibited state will be cancelled and refunded.
Questions we get about Black Velvet Gooseberry
Does Black Velvet Gooseberry need a pollenizer?
No. Black Velvet Gooseberry is self-fertile, so a single plant can set fruit. A second gooseberry variety nearby can give larger fruit set.
How cold hardy is Black Velvet Gooseberry?
We list Black Velvet Gooseberry at zone 3, which means winters down to about -40°F. We're still new to it, so that rating comes from other growers' reports rather than our own winters, and we'd be cautious with it below zone 4 for now. We'll adjust it as our own plants go through more Montana winters.
What is Black Velvet Gooseberry good for?
Our top use scores for Black Velvet Gooseberry are fresh eating (8/10), pies and baking (7/10), jams and jellies (7/10), canning and freezing (6/10). Since we're still new to it, those scores lean on published descriptions and other growers rather than our own harvests. Anything scored 8 or higher makes our Best Of lists.
Will deer eat Black Velvet Gooseberry?
Rarely. Deer seldom bother Black Velvet Gooseberry, though a hungry winter deer will try almost anything.
What arrives, and when does Black Velvet Gooseberry ship?
Two dormant bare-root plants, roots wrapped in moist sawdust with a vapor barrier, shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring. Sizes offered: 1-2 ft. We guarantee our plants bud out. Stone fruits can be slow, so if one still has not budded out by August 15, write to us and we credit you for the following spring.