Red-flowering currant

Sun

Full sun to partial shade; flowering is usually best in sun. Afternoon shade helps in hotter locations.

Water

Water regularly during establishment; once established, water during prolonged drought. Avoid persistently wet soil.

Soil

Well-drained loam, sand or clay; tolerates moderately poor soil and a broad pH range, but dislikes waterlogging.

Height

6-10 ft (1.8-3 m)

Spread

5-8 ft (1.5-2.4 m)

Flowers

Early to mid-spring; hanging clusters of pink to rose-red flowers, occasionally white in some forms.

Foliage

Rounded, three- to five-lobed green leaves with a resinous scent when crushed; usually yellowish before falling in autumn.

Growth

Moderate

Care needed

Low

• Pollinators
• Wildlife
• Low allergen

Northern hemisphere months. In Australia, shift them by six.

Difficulty

Easy

Toughness

Very tough

Pick your zone, country, light and whether you have pets.

1. Planting day

   1.6 ft (0.5 m)

2. After 1 year

   2.9 ft (0.88 m)

3. After 2 years

   4 ft (1.3 m)

4. After 3 years

   5 ft (1.6 m)

5. After 5 years

   8 ft (2.4 m)

   full size

About 5 years to full size.

From a typical nursery size, at an average rate for this kind of plant. A rule of thumb, not a forecast.

Cats and dogs

Safe

Native to

the US and Canada

Growth rate

Moderate

• Water deeply during dry spells for the first two growing seasons.
• Apply a 2-3 in (5-8 cm) mulch in spring, keeping it clear of the stems.
• Avoid routine feeding; on poor soil, add a thin layer of compost in spring.
• Allow room for its arching branches rather than keeping it tightly clipped.
• Remove unwanted seedlings while small, especially near natural woodland.

Pruning. Prune immediately after flowering, since next spring's flowers form on older growth. Remove dead or crossing branches and, when renewal is needed, cut up to one-third of the oldest stems to ground level.

Autumn

Plant while the soil is workable, water thoroughly and mulch.

Winter

Take hardwood cuttings from healthy dormant shoots.

Early spring

Refresh mulch and check soil moisture around recently planted shrubs.

Late spring

After flowering, remove selected old stems and lightly reshape if needed.

Summer

Water young shrubs during dry spells; check new growth for aphids.

Late summer

Leave berries for birds and pull unwanted seedlings.

• Plant as a loose flowering hedge with other deciduous shrubs for seasonal screening.
• Use at a woodland edge with ferns and spring bulbs, where the flowers show against darker foliage.
• Place behind a mixed border to provide spring colour and a leafy summer backdrop.
• Include in western North American native gardens with Oregon grape and sword fern.

Garden styles it suits: Woodland, Wildlife garden, Cottage garden, Native hedgerow, Pacific Northwest woodland and California native.

Plant it with: Oregon grape, Western sword fern, Pacific bleeding heart, Vine maple, Daffodils and Hellebores.

Wildlife: Flowers feed early bees and, in its native range, hummingbirds. Birds eat the berries, and the branching growth offers shelter.

• Aphids can curl young leaves: dislodge small colonies with water and encourage ladybirds and other predators.
• Powdery mildew may affect crowded or drought-stressed plants: improve airflow and water the root zone during prolonged dry weather.
• Poor flowering often follows winter pruning or deep shade: prune only after flowering and provide a brighter position.
• White pine blister rust can involve Ribes as an alternate host: check local currant-planting restrictions in the United States, especially near susceptible five-needle pines.

Not known to be toxic to people, cats, dogs or horses. The berries are edible but usually bland or unpleasant; eating large quantities of fruit or foliage may cause digestive upset.

Where it spreads. Regarded as an environmental weed in parts of New Zealand, where bird-spread seedlings can invade scrub and woodland. It is also naturalised in parts of Britain and Ireland; remove seedlings where it spreads into nearby natural vegetation.

• Redcurrant (Ribes rubrum)

  Has small, inconspicuous greenish flowers followed by translucent red berries, rather than showy pink flower clusters and dusty blue-black berries.

• Fuchsia-flowered gooseberry (Ribes speciosum)

  Has conspicuous spines and narrow, hanging red flowers with long projecting stamens; red-flowering currant is spineless.

• Golden currant (Ribes aureum)

  Produces yellow, often strongly fragrant flowers rather than pink or red clusters.

The Latin species name sanguineum means blood-red, referring to the flower colour.

Propagation. Take hardwood cuttings after leaf fall or softwood cuttings in early summer. Seed-grown plants vary in flower colour; use cuttings to preserve a named cultivar.

Accepted botanical name

Ribes sanguineum

In the US and Canada

Native in Canada and the lower 48 states.

Native range

British Columbia, California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

Measured

Soil pH 6 to 7.5. Average height 333 cm.

Sources: GBIF (CC BY 4.0), USDA PLANTS and Trefle (CC BY 4.0). The care and design notes are LandscapeGPT's own.