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Once you taste it, you will not want another 🍯
Family: Grossulariaceae · Pot diameter: 13cm · organically grown · Height: approximately 45cm
Ribes nigrum CASSISSIMA® ‘Blackbells’ hangs striking black ‘bells’ beneath its foliage. Each long string can carry 10–15 large glossy berries with full sweet flavour and a milder blackcurrant aroma for enjoyable fresh picking. The strong broad bush gives a spectacular harvest, cuts easily in complete strings and turns juices, preserves and desserts into deeply coloured summer delights.
Leave ample room around the broad bush, retain younger wood on the outside and wait for the whole long string to turn black before cutting.
‘Blackbells’ stands out for unusually long strings, numerous large berries and mild sweet blackcurrant flavour.
Strings usually carry 10–15 berries and hang clearly beneath lobed leaves.
Large berries provide rich juice with a milder resinous note than many traditional cultivars.
Vigorous lateral growth creates a large productive outline and room for many long strings.
Why you will love it: It offers the spectacle and practicality of a string cut whole, together with black fruit sweet enough to eat fresh.
Plant in sun to bright partial shade at least 1.2m from neighbouring shrubs. In hot regions protect roots and black berries from afternoon sun.
Strong perennials with vertical yet airy form frame the broad bush and bring pollinators in different seasons.
Sun to partial shade; avoid fierce reflected heat.
Deep watering when the surface dries, especially while berries fill.
Very good winter hardiness; shallow roots need cool soil and deep summer watering.
Wash fully ripe fruit before eating.
Plant in fertile, humus-rich soil that holds even moisture without waterlogging. An organic mulch over the outer root zone keeps the soil cool.
Water deeply when the surface dries, with particular consistency from flowering until the berries fill. Avoid both prolonged drought and permanently saturated soil.
Keep 8–10 well-spaced stems and use a low perimeter ring only if long strings weigh down outer branches.
In early spring add mature compost and a balanced fruit-shrub feed according to its label. Stop nitrogen-rich applications early in summer.
In regions with very hot summers choose morning sun and afternoon shade. A lasting mulch and deep watering protect the shallow roots.
Thin a crowded centre, renew the darkest stems and lift long strings away from the soil with low support.
‘Blackbells’ is self-fertile and crops alone. Another blackcurrant flowering alongside it may improve filling of long strings.
Berries ripen from early to mid-July.
Wait until even the final berries at the tip are fully black and soft. Snip the whole string at its central stalk.
Place tall netting over a rigid frame before berries darken, leaving room for long hanging strings.
After planting: water deeply, keep the centre open and let outer new stems build a broad productive bush.
Late winter, before buds swell
‘Blackbells’ forms its finest long strings on well-lit young and middle-aged wood. Gradually remove the darkest old stems, retain broad outer renewal and do not shorten healthy tips.
Action: Choose 5–6 strong stems opening in different directions and remove only thin or inward competitors.
Retain: Keep complete healthy tips so laterals with long strings can form.
Action: Remove one crossing branch from the centre and very low laterals. Do not clip the outer outline uniformly.
Retain: Keep 8–10 well-lit stems and free space beneath long strings.
Action: Cut 2–3 of the darkest old stems at ground level and choose the same number of strong pale replacements on the outside.
Retain: Keep mixed ages and a broad bright centre.
Use sharp, clean tools suited to the diameter of the wood.
Remove only one low exhausted lateral if it touches the soil. Leave remaining foliage until natural fall.
Do not do this: Do not shorten every tip; uniform clipping removes productive nodes and creates a crowded top with shorter strings.
New stems open towards the outer perimeter and create a large bright bush.
Many berries form along elongated stalks beneath the leaves.
Whole strings darken and hang in clear groups around the crown.
Mature ‘Blackbells’ forms a broad bright bush with 8–10 stems and very long strings of 10–15 large black berries.
Ten to fifteen berries per string require balanced fruit set along the whole stalk and continuous water supply while filling.
What to expect after planting: New stems open towards the outer perimeter and create a large bright bush.
‘Blackbells’ was created in Lubera’s blackcurrant programme in Switzerland. Breeders allowed flowers of the sweet healthy ‘Neva’ to be open-pollinated within a collection of selected blackcurrants, then sowed the seed in search of a new combination of flavour and cropping.
Among the seedlings, a strong broad bush stood out with unusually long strings, often holding 10–15 large berries. Flavour was sweet with a milder characteristic blackcurrant aroma, while foliage showed good mildew tolerance. Seedling characteristics indicated that ‘Noiroma’ was the probable pollen parent.
The selection joined the CASSISSIMA® range and was named ‘Blackbells’, inspired by its long hanging groups of black fruit. It became the cultivar in the range that turns blackcurrant from individual berry into a striking complete string.
The mother is known because seed was collected from ‘Neva’. The father is inferred from morphological and flavour traits because pollen moved naturally in the field.
Elongation of the inflorescence axis and retention of more fertile flower positions allow 10–15 berries. Even ripening depends on adequate light along the whole string.
Six practical answers for choosing, growing, harvesting and pruning this exact cultivar.
No. It is self-fertile, while another blackcurrant flowering alongside it may improve filling of long strings.
Approximately 1.4–1.8m high and 1–1.2m wide as a strong broad bush.
Yes, in a very large deep container with a low perimeter support and even watering.
From early to mid-July, when even the final berries on the long string have turned fully black.
A well-filled string can carry roughly 10–15 large berries.
In late winter remove 2–3 of the darkest old stems at ground level and retain strong new replacements.
