Rovada Redcurrant Plants

• Variety: Rovada, a late, heavy-cropping Redcurrant with very long strings
• Latin name: Ribes rubrum 'Rovada'
• Use: Jelly, sauces, summer pudding and the freezer
• Sold as: Bareroot plants, and pot-grown in 3 litre pots
• Size: 1 to 1.5m tall and wide
• Picking: From mid July well into August
• Spacing: 1.4m apart, in rows 1.5m apart
• Position: Full sun for preference. Tolerates partial shade, and can be trained on a north wall
• Soil: Fertile and well-drained, neutral to slightly acid
• Wildlife: RHS Plants for Pollinators
• Hardiness: H6, hardy through the British winter
• RHS Award of Garden Merit: Yes (2019)
• Delivered: Bareroot, November to April. Pot-grown, all year when in stock. Collection from Castle Cary also available

Rovada is a late Redcurrant that crops heavily from mid July into August, with large berries on long strings that make picking quick. It grows as a bush, cordon or fan, in sun or partial shade, and holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit.

Rovada Redcurrant Plants

Rovada redcurrants are simply the best redcurrant variety available today, an almost perfect redcurrant bush with an RHS Award of Garden Merit. The berries are carried in long strings to make picking easy, yields are enormous (up to 10kgs per bush) and the redcurrants themselves are outstandingly tasty. Unmistakably redcurrant. Rovada redcurrant bushes crop late, from mid July and well into August.
If you can only have one redcurrant plant, pick this one.

Browse our other currant bushes, flowering currant for hedges, or all Soft Fruit Bushes.

All redcurrants like a bit of room to breathe. Rovada should be grown at 140cm spacing in the row and with 150cm between the rows.

Rovada is a heavy cropper for the space it takes, and a bush grown against a wall or fence is easy to net against birds. For a longer redcurrant season, grow it alongside Jonkheer Van Tet, the earliest of our redcurrants: between them they crop from early summer into August.

How to prune mature Redcurrants:

Two and three year old wood is the most productive. Prune out entire stems down to their base after their third year, in winter.
Prune the side shoots on two year old stems down to just above two buds up from the stem, in winter. This prepares them for the best crop in their third and final year.
Don't prune new stems, unless it's sagging low towards the ground, or if it's weak or damaged.

Planting Companions

Jonkheer Van Tet, linked above, starts the Redcurrant season and Rovada ends it. For other colours on the same kind of bush, add a Whitecurrant, Versailles Blanche or Blanka, or a Blackcurrant such as Ben Connan. Our guides to growing Redcurrants and Whitecurrants and pruning them as bushes and cordons cover the rest. Dust bareroot roots with Rootgrow as you plant.

Why Buy Your Redcurrant Plants from Ashridge?

Ashridge has sold plants since 1949 and is a Which? Best Plant Supplier 2025. Your Rovada Redcurrant comes bareroot while dormant, or pot-grown for planting in any month. Bareroot plants are guaranteed for 12 months, and so is a potted plant delivered leafless between November and March.

Frequently Asked Questions

When are Rovada Redcurrants ripe?

Late: from mid July and well into August. Rovada is a late summer Redcurrant.

Why are long strings useful?

A string is the little stalk that carries a bunch of berries. Rovada's strings are long and its berries large, so you pick a bunch at a time.

Will Rovada grow in shade?

In partial shade, yes. Redcurrants prefer full sun, tolerate partial shade and can be trained against a north wall.

How far apart do you plant Rovada?

As bushes, about 1.4 metres apart, with 1.5 metres between rows. They like room to breathe.

How big does it grow?

It grows 1 to 1.5 metres tall and wide in 2 to 5 years.

Does it hold an award?

Yes. It has held the Award of Garden Merit since 2019, and it is on the RHS Plants for Pollinators list.

When are the plants delivered?

Bareroot plants are delivered from November to April, while they are dormant. Pot-grown plants can be delivered and planted in any month when you find them in stock.