This store requires javascript to be enabled for some features to work correctly.
She takes her time and plays hard to get, but one taste… addictive 🫠
Family: Grossulariaceae · Pot diameter: 13cm · organically grown · Height: approximately 45cm
Ribes uva-crispa EASYCRISP® ‘Lady Late’ saves its finest moment for last, with very large dark-red fruit after most cultivars have finished cropping. Smooth thin skin encloses juicy flesh with a sweet balanced flavour that deserves to ripen fully on the bush. Almost thornless stems make picking delightfully simple and turn this late cultivar into a genuine star of the summer fruit garden.
Let the fruit develop an even deep-red colour and keep the bush light, airy and evenly moist while it ripens.
‘Lady Late’ extends the season without sacrificing size, flavour or picking comfort.
It ripens from mid-July into early August and keeps the basket going after early green and yellow cultivars.
Dark-red fruit is among the largest in the range, without irritating hairs and with abundant juice.
The few spines occur mainly low down and on older wood, leaving the fruiting zone friendly to the hand.
Why you will love it: It closes the season with striking colour and fruit large enough to become the first talking point at the table.
Plant in sun or bright partial shade, allowing about 1.2–1.5m from neighbouring shrubs. In warm regions avoid a south-facing wall that reflects fierce heat onto the dark fruit.
Flowering clumps with gentle root systems suit it, positioned beyond the circle of basal stems.
Sun to partial shade; avoid fierce reflected heat.
Deep watering when the surface dries, especially while berries fill.
Very good winter hardiness; the main protection is from summer heat on the fruit.
Wash fully ripe fruit before eating.
Choose fertile, humus-rich, well-drained soil with a slightly acidic to neutral reaction. Keep the crown clear and mulch the outer root zone with organic material.
Water deeply when the surface dries, especially during flowering and while the fruit is swelling. Even moisture helps the thin skin remain supple.
Form an open goblet with 6–8 main stems. Support only a heavily laden outer branch rather than tying the whole bush.
Each spring add mature compost and a balanced fruit-shrub feed according to its label. Excess nitrogen crowds the crown and delays wood ripening.
In very hot regions choose morning sun with light afternoon shade. Retain enough foliage around pale fruit to prevent scorching.
Remove stems touching the soil, water at the base and do not strip too much foliage from the crown just before a heatwave.
‘Lady Late’ is self-fertile and crops alone. A second cultivar flowering in April–May provides insects with more pollen.
Picking usually begins in mid-July and can continue into early August, depending on climate.
Wait until the fruit is deep red, slightly yielding and sweet. Hold it by the short stalk and lift gently.
In fierce heat temporarily shade the western side with light shade cloth. For birds use separate taut netting over a frame.
After planting: water deeply and retain ample healthy foliage so the bush establishes with an open yet full shape.
Late winter for renewal · early summer for light lateral shortening
‘Lady Late’ carries its finest large fruit on young and middle-aged wood. Build an open goblet, renew the darkest branches gradually and retain enough foliage to shade the late fruit.
Action: Choose 5–6 outward-facing main stems and remove only broken or very low competitors.
Retain: Keep a clear centre and healthy length for future fruiting laterals.
Action: In winter remove crossing branches and shorten only overlong laterals above an outward bud. In early summer cut new non-fruiting laterals after five leaves.
Retain: Keep short fruiting spurs and foliage around the late berries.
Action: Cut one or two of the darkest ageing stems at ground level and allow the same number of new replacements.
Retain: Keep 6–8 stems of different ages around a bright protected centre.
Use sharp, clean tools suited to the diameter of the wood.
Remove one very low exhausted lateral if it obstructs watering. Leave the remaining foliage to feed the wood.
Do not do this: Do not over-thin the crown before late fruit ripens; sudden exposure to fierce sun causes scorching and splitting.
Outward-facing stems create a low goblet with room for easy access.
Short fruiting laterals form along younger wood and fill with green berries.
Heavy red berries hang in an open yet leafy crown towards the end of the season.
Main branches spread from a low base while keeping the centre open. Small lobed leaves frame short fruiting shoots, leaving access to the large individual berries.
Older wood may carry a few low spines while the upper fruiting zone remains almost thornless.
What to expect after planting: Outward-facing stems create a low goblet with room for easy access.
‘Lady Late’ emerged from Lubera’s long-running gooseberry breeding programme in Switzerland and Germany. The ambitious goal was to combine large flavoursome fruit, strong tolerance of American gooseberry mildew and very few spines in the picking zone.
In trials during the early 2010s, one red selection stood out because it ripened later than the other nearly thornless lines. Despite the late season, berries remained very large, smooth and juicy while the bush retained healthy foliage until harvest.
The selection was named ‘Lady Late’ and joined the EASYCRISP® range, whose name reflects easy access and pleasant fruit texture. Its appearance in catalogues from 2013 shows that it was designed as the late finish to a complete sequence of colours and seasons.
Reduced spines in EASYCRISP® gooseberries are associated with North American genetic material, especially Ribes hirtellum, used with European lines for resilience and improved fruit.
Flowers arise on short laterals and spurs carried by younger wood. Selective thinning therefore retains more productive sites than uniform clipping.
Six practical answers for choosing, growing, harvesting and pruning this exact cultivar.
No. It is self-fertile, while another cultivar flowering with it can enhance fruit set.
Approximately 1.2–1.5m high and similarly wide as an open multi-stemmed bush.
Yes, in a large container with even watering, an open shape and light shade on hot afternoons.
From mid-July into early August, when berries are deep red and slightly yielding.
It is almost thornless. A few spines may occur low down or on older wood.
In late winter for renewal and lightly in early summer only on long non-fruiting laterals.
