In the gooseberry family, you have two camps: culinary (sour, for cooking) and dessert (sweet, for eating raw). The Anna Ralphs gooseberry brilliantly splits the difference.
Pruning is essential for gooseberries to prevent mildew and make harvesting easier (and less painful!).
Plant bare-root Anna Ralphs gooseberry bushes during the dormant season (November to March). Container-grown plants can go in any time, but avoid summer heat waves. anna ralphs gooseberry
If the Anna Ralphs was so delicious, why don't we have it today?
The answer is a one-two punch of plant disease and agricultural economics. In the gooseberry family, you have two camps:
1. The American Invasion (1900-1920) Gooseberries are susceptible to a fungal disease called American gooseberry mildew (Sphaerotheca mors-uvae). In the early 20th century, this disease decimated European soft fruit. While some cultivars like ‘Invicta’ proved resistant, the delicate, thin-skinned ‘Anna Ralphs’ was tragicically vulnerable.
2. The Ban (1910s-1960s) In the United States, gooseberries were caught in the crossfire of White Pine Blister Rust control. A federal ban forced farmers to destroy Ribes plants. Many European heirlooms never made the transatlantic journey, and those that did were lost to the axe. Plant bare-root Anna Ralphs gooseberry bushes during the
3. Changing Tastes Post-WWII, Britain and America shifted toward sweet, hardy fruits. The gooseberry market crumbled in favor of strawberries and grapes. The ‘Anna Ralphs’, which required precise pruning and rich, loamy soil, was deemed "fussy." By 1955, the last known specimen at the RHS Garden Wisley was labeled "status: lost."
