'Imperial White' Currant

Ribes spicatum Origin: Geneva, New York Improvement status: Cultivar Seeds per packet: ~25 BOTANICAL SAMPLE - NOT GERMINATION TESTED Life cycle: Perennial NEW FOR 2022. 'Imperial White' currant was released by the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva in 1890, just eight years after the research station began operations (it was created by an act of the New York legislature in 1880). This beautiful and delicious cultivar was one of the earliest releases of the state of New York's public plant breeding program, and one of its most successful (alongside famous apple varieties including Cortland, Empire, Jonagold, Jonamac, and Macoun). 'Imperial White' is the most popular white currant variety around the world. White currants are the same species as red currants (formerly Ribes rubrum, but now called Ribes spicatum), they just lack the red coloration. By small degrees, but noticeably so, they are sweeter than their red counterparts. But they are still very tart, to the