Blackcurrant ‘Titania’

for a change (if you have looked at our other Blackcurrants) this is a Swedish-bred blackcurrant! This plant produces good crops of large, black berries ticking all of those flavour notes you could wish for, sweet, sour, juicy and sharp all at once. ‘Titania’ is particularly good for its excellent disease resistance and long harvesting season making it a reliable addition to the kitchen garden.

• Fruiting months: July–August

• Height: 150cm/5ft

• Planting distance: 150cm apart

• Fruit colour: Glossy black

• Position: Full sun; tolerates light partial shade

• Pollination: Self-fertile

Hannah's Garden Diary

I seem to plant another one of these in my garden every year.I particularly like it because even after my garden grazing children have been at it I still have enough left to make squash!

Blackcurrants produce their best crops on younger wood, so encouraging plenty of fresh growth will help keep your harvests up year after year. For many years, I didn't bother pruning mine, mostly because I'm just a bit lazy... I always wondered why the blinking things produced so poorly! Yearly pruning has revolutionised my blackcurrant harvests!

They also LOVE a good mulch (to keep their roots moist... of course!). They tolerate a richer mulch, like well-rotted farmyard or horse manure, but will also do well under a more neutral mulch, like bark mulch (not bark chips, they are different!!).