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Botanical garden collection showcases global diversity of currants

The Georgeson Botanical Garden in Fairbanks is home to a collection of more than 80 varieties of currants. For the past three years, the garden has celebrated these fruits with the annual Far North Currant Festival, which returns Saturday, Aug. 23, from 1 to 4 p.m. 

This collection of currants almost didn’t make it to Fairbanks. In 2012, the U.S. Department of Agriculture withdrew its Agricultural Research Service from �Ӱ�pro and shut down the Arctic and Subarctic Plant Gene Bank in Palmer, a repository for peonies, rhubarb, currants, mints, Arctic and sub-Arctic species used for land reclamation, and other native and cultivated plants. 

The agency transferred the plant germplasm — seeds and other genetic material — to gene banks in Washington and Oregon. The collection of living plants left behind, including varieties of currants from all over the world, was slated to be composted. Pat Holloway, a UAF horticulture professor emeritus and then-director of the Georgeson Botanical Garden, stepped in. 

Realizing the value of the collection, she and horticulturist Grant Matheke rented a U-Haul, drove to Palmer and loaded up every plant they could fit. Pots of currants, gooseberries, crabapples, rhubarb and haskaps were brought back to Fairbanks and planted at the garden, located at the Fairbanks Experiment Farm on the UAF Troth Yeddha' Campus.

“We weren’t about to pass up a chance to get free plant materials from a world-class collection,” Holloway said. 

Over the past 13 years, many of the transplanted currants have survived, although most gooseberries died within the first five years.

“The survivors really challenged our assumption that hardy plants for �Ӱ�pro needed to originate from similar cold northern regions or high elevations,” Holloway said. The collection showed that some plants are much more environmentally adaptable than others, she said. 

The garden’s currants represent cultivars from countries such as Russia, France, Canada, Germany and Poland.

Lacey Higham, the current director of the gardens, is evaluating the collection and adding new labels this week. She has confirmed 80 varieties of currants in the garden, a number that will increase as she identifies each plant.

While the currants have earned themselves a whole festival, the crabapples, haskaps and rhubarb can also still be found in the garden. 

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