I found a supplier of the 'Woodpecker' giant gooseberry plants and managed to get there last cutting Yayyyyyyyyyyyyy ! cant wait till next year when we should have some golf ball size fruits ;D
wow you will have to report back on the results :)
Is Woodpecker an old variety, It is not one I have heard off before.
Jon
Me neither...
???
Sounds 8)
Woodpecker is described as golden yellow, mid season, large, beautiful dessert, heavy cropper.
Although you can get golfball sized fruits most commonly from Lord Derby, Woodpecker, or Fascination. If you intend to leave more than one berry on the bush I wouldn't get your hopes up, if you are planning to enter them into a show on the other hand the Woodpecker is a good choice. Giant gooseberries are produced by removing all the growing berries except one from the plant.
The Egton Bridge Old Gooseberry Society in Yorkshire winner in 1985 was Woodpecker weighing in at 1.925 ounces prior to that Woodpecker was the world record holder appearing in 1978 at Marton in Cheshire & weighing in at 2.06 ounces.
Apparently the really big berries almost have no flavour.
What was the supplier ?
They are for showing so not to worried about the taste of these i have others to eat ;D
I found them at Roughalls nursery ! I will take cuttings from theis one next year so i can have about 6 plants.
Took a lot to find someone that sold them !!!
We've got an elderly bush on next door's allotment that produces lots and lots of large fruits, just smaller than golf balls, and very tasty and sweet - hardly any bitterness. Woodpecker do you think? The colour shades almost to red.
Strike some cuttings then!
;D
... and send them to MEEEEEEE!!
;D
Rougham Hall Nurseries near Bury St. Edmunds sells about forty varieties from stock and holds the NCCPG national collection (hundreds of varieties).
The last time I went there, there was a bloke who'd brought a sample from his own garden to try to work out what variety it was - seemed to involve a lot of questions and taste testing!