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A very old English heirloom Gooseberry; we are delighted to have limited stocks available. The English ‘Red Jacket’ cultivar stood alone as the winner, primarily due to its superior hardiness (per conversation with Gene Howard, superintendent of the Cheyenne Station from 1964 to 1974). Mr. Howard told me cuttings had been obtained directly from England…
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A very old English heirloom Gooseberry; we are delighted to have limited stocks available.
The English ‘Red Jacket’ cultivar stood alone as the winner, primarily due to its superior hardiness (per conversation with Gene Howard, superintendent of the Cheyenne Station from 1964 to 1974). Mr. Howard told me cuttings had been obtained directly from England and that it eventually became his personal favorite due to its hardiness, productivity, flavor andrelative freedom from powdery mildew. He held the English ‘Red Jacket’ in such high regard that he transplanted it, and none other, to his personal residence before the collection was destroyed. The plant in Cheyenne is extremely thorny with thick, heavy thorns in triplets at each node and bears prolifically, so much that the weight of the fruit has caused the branches to grow in a mounded, almost prostrate form. The earliest known reference dates to 1881 where the ‘Red Jacket’ took 6th place in the red category at the English National Gooseberry Show held in Manchester. One of its berries was reported to have weighed approx. 1.1 ounces. Berries in Cheyenne were about the circumference of a nickel with 20 to 30 berries per branch. From a reference (J.L. Budd and N.E. Hansen in 1903) it is described as having smooth skin and flesh sweet and good. Budd and Hansen named it ‘English Red Jacket’ to distinguish it from the Canadian sort.
Sending a tree through the post isn’t easy, so our parcels are expertly packed to keep your goods in the best condition. There is no surcharge on the delivery of larger parcels/orders.
Tree size as supplied varies but is usually between 3.5′ – 4.5′ on despatch. A few varieties might be slightly smaller, some a little bigger, of course it does vary but this is a good average. WE SUPPLY YOUNG TREES – and are proud to do so. Although we are sometimes requested to supply older/bigger trees, the perceived advantages are outweighed by disadvantages! Older trees take longer to establish and will fruit no more quickly. The young trees we send out grow away and establish so quickly and healthily & often yield within 1 season of planting. Our customers even report fruits the first year of planting! All professional fruit growers prefer to plant young trees rather than older.
Our soft fruit bushes are usually 2 years old.
Everything is stringently graded, grown on the nursery and well packed!
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