Jostaberry Plant

Never heard of a Jostaberry? You’re not alone — but once you taste one, you won’t forget it. A hybrid of gooseberry and black currant, the Jostaberry delivers a rich, sweet-tangy flavor that captures the best of both parents. Deep red, almost-black berries ripen in July in large clusters, and the thornless, long-lived shrubs are some of the most disease-resistant and low-maintenance berry plants you can grow.

The Best of Two Worlds

The Jostaberry gets its name from a combination of the German words for its parent plants — Johannisbeere (black currant) and Stachelbeere (gooseberry) — and its flavor reflects exactly that heritage. The taste is reminiscent of gooseberry with a distinctive black currant depth, producing firm, juicy berries that are excellent for fresh eating, juicing, jams, and jellies. The fruit is also exceptionally high in vitamin C.

A Hardy, Thornless Shrub That Practically Grows Itself

Introduced in 1977, Jostaberry was bred not just for flavor but for durability. The plants are cold hardy, long-lived, and impressively disease resistant — immune or highly resistant to American gooseberry mildew, black currant leaf spot, white pine blister rust, and big bud gall mite. No thorns means harvesting is easy and pleasant, and the shrubs are productive for decades once established.

Why Growers Love Jostaberry

• Unique flavor — rich sweet-tangy taste combining gooseberry and black currant
• Thornless — easy, comfortable harvesting with no scratched arms
• Exceptional disease resistance — resistant to four major berry diseases
• High in vitamin C — a genuinely nutritious homegrown fruit
• Tolerates partial shade — productive even where full sun isn’t available
• Self-pollinating — fruit with just one plant
• Long-lived and low-maintenance — a plant that rewards patience and pays off for years