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 Plant list: Soft fruit
There is nothing better than picking your own fresh, soft fruit. They make a great contribution to the summer dining table, before the autumn fruit really kick in.
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| Latin name: | | Fragaria x ananassa |
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| Common name: | | Strawberry |
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| Type of plant: | | Perennial |
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| Hardiness: | | Hardy |
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| Flower colour: | | White |
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| Leaf colour: | | Mid-green |
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| Height and spread: | | 30cm x 45cm (1ft x 1.5ft) |
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| Description: | |
Strawberries are low growing, herbaceous perennials, which produce runners that should be removed. The fruit is produced in summer and for a longer cropping season grow early, for example ‘Hedley’, mid-season for example 'Hapil’, and late for example Domanil.
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| Latin name: | | Rubus idaeus |
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| Common name: | | Raspberry |
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| Type of plant: | | Shrub |
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| Hardiness: | | Hardy |
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| Flower colour: | | White |
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| Leaf colour: | | Dull green |
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| Height and spread: | | 120cm to 150cm x 50cm (3.9ft to 5ft x 1.6ft) |
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| Description: | |
Raspberries crop in summer or autumn. For summer fruiting, grow early, for example ‘Delight’; mid-season ‘Orion’ or for late harvesting crops, try ‘Leo’. For autumn fruiting, favourite cultivars are ‘Autumn Bliss’ or ‘Zeva’.
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| Latin name: | | Ribes nigrum |
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| Common name: | | Blackcurrant |
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| Type of plant: | | Shrub |
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| Hardiness: | | Frost hardy |
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| Flower colour: | | White |
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| Leaf colour: | | Dull green |
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| Height and spread: | | 100cm to 120cm x 90cm to 120 cm (3.3ft to 3.9ft x 3ft to 3.9ft) |
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| Description: | |
Blackcurrants need annual pruning to keep them vigorous. Harvest the black berries as they appear, otherwise birds nab them. Good cultivars are ‘Tsema’ for an early crop, ‘Ben More’ or ‘Blacksmith’ for main crop, ‘Baldwin’ for late, and ‘Jet’ for very late.
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| Latin name: | | Ribes sativum |
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| Common name: | | Redcurrant |
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| Type of plant: | | Tree |
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| Hardiness: | | Hardy |
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| Flower colour: | | White |
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| Leaf colour: | | Dull green |
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| Height and spread: | | 100cm to 120cm x 90cm to 120 cm (3.3ft to 3.9ft x 3ft to 3.9ft) |
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| Description: | |
Technically a tree because it has a trunk, grow different redcurrants to fruit all season. ‘Jonkheervan Tets’ and ‘Laxton’s No1’ give an early crop, ‘Red Lake’ and ‘Rondom’ a mid season one, and ‘Wilson’s Long Bunch’ is late cropping.
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| Latin name: | | Ribes sativum |
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| Common name: | | Whitecurrant |
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| Type of plant: | | Tree |
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| Hardiness: | | Hardy |
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| Flower colour: | | White |
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| Leaf colour: | | Dull green |
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| Height and spread: | | 100cm to 120cm x 90cm to 120 cm (3.3ft to 3.9ft x 3ft to 3.9ft) |
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| Description: | |
Grow whitecurrants for a mid-season crop. Good cultivars include ‘White Versailles’, ‘White Grape’, and ‘White Dutch’. Will need annual pruning to keep them vigorous (as will redcurrants.)
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