Flowering currant

Flowering currant: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Upright, thornless shrub of 1.5–2.5 m.

Leaf

Alternate, 4–10 cm, round with 3–5 lobes, irregularly toothed, somewhat wrinkled and felted underneath; pungent and spicy when crushed.

Bark

Brown twigs without prickles.

Flower

Hanging to spreading clusters of pink, red or white flowers in April, together with the leaves.

Fruit

Bluish-black berries with a waxy bloom; edible, but insipid.

Difference from blackcurrant

Blackcurrant has greenish flowers and large, black, strongly scented berries.

Flowering: March–May · Pruning: April–May

Identify by feature: Pink blossom · Hanging flower clusters

Looks like it, but isn’t

• Blackcurrant Ribes nigrum: greenish flowers and large, black, strongly scented berries. Difference from blackcurrant

Why grow it?

• One of the first shrubs to flower: clusters of pink to red flowers in April.
• Early nectar for queen bumblebees and bees.
• Easy and fast-growing, in sun or partial shade, on almost any soil.
• Thornless: also good in an informal flowering hedge.

Flowering currant: where does it grow best?

• Sun or partial shade; it flowers best in sun.
• Ordinary garden soil, acid or chalky; neither waterlogged nor bone dry.
• Allow 2 m width.
• Not close to Weymouth pines or other five-needled pines (see caution).

Light

Sun or partial shade

Legal basis

Any garden soil

Moisture

Normal

Size

2 m tall, 2 m wide

Hardiness

Throughout Belgium, no protection needed

Goes well with

• Forsythia: Yellow next to pink in the same weeks: a classic spring pairing.
• Snowy mespilus: White blossom in April and later berries for the birds.
• Oregon grape: Yellow flower clusters in spring and evergreen leaves, for the same partial shade.

Good and bad companions

Goes well with

• Suits the woodland edge or the light shade of: ginkgo, box elder, ash, honey locust, field maple, silver maple

Best kept away from

• Blister rust alternates between currants and this pine: weymouth pine

Flowering currant: when and how to plant it?

1. Plant from November to March, bare-root, root-balled or from a pot.
2. In an informal hedge: one plant per metre.
3. Plant at the same depth as before, firm the soil and water generously.
4. After planting, shorten the branches by a third for a bushier shrub.

Care

Watering

In dry spells in the first year; after that only in long dry summers.

Feeding

A little compost in spring is enough.

Mulch

A layer of leaves or wood chips keeps the shallow roots cool and moist.

Renewal

Remove a few old branches every year after flowering: this keeps it free-flowering.

Tip: Plant it where you can see it from the house in April. For deep red, choose ‘King Edward VII’ or ‘Pulborough Scarlet’; ‘White Icicle’ flowers white.

Flowering currant: when to prune it?

Pruning months: April–May.

When: After flowering (April–May).

How:

• Every year, cut a few of the oldest branches off at the base; this keeps it young and free-flowering.
• Shorten overlong branches that have flowered back to a strong side branch.
• Rejuvenate an old, bare shrub over two or three years, removing a third of the oldest branches each time.

Caution: Do not prune in winter or before flowering: you would cut off the flower buds. April–May falls in the nesting season: check for nesting birds first.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Hardwood cuttings

In winter (November–February), push 20–25 cm lengths of twig two-thirds into the ground in a sheltered spot; most root readily.

Softwood cuttings

Soft cuttings taken in June also root easily under glass or plastic.

Flowering currant: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy throughout Belgium: no protection needed.

• Fully hardy.
• In winter it is bare; the flower buds are already waiting on the twigs.

Diseases and pests

• White pine blister rust: Small orange to brown rust spots under the leaves in late summer. Harmless to the currant, but the fungus can attack Weymouth pines nearby.
• Coral spot: Small pink to orange pustules on dead branches. Cut those branches out into healthy wood and dispose of them.
• Aphids: Aphids on the young shoots in spring. Let ladybirds and tits do the work, or hose them off with water.
• Few flowers: An old shrub that is never pruned flowers less. Rejuvenate it by removing old branches every year.

Through the year

• January: Take hardwood cuttings.
• March: First flowers; last month for planting bare-root shrubs.
• April: Full flower; prune after flowering, checking for nests first.
• May: Last pruning month.
• June: Take softwood cuttings.
• August: Bluish-black berries; watch for rust under the leaves.
• November: Plant.

What can you use it for?

Garden and landscape

Easy, fast-growing spring-flowering shrub for sun and partial shade.

For wildlife

Important early source of nectar for queen bumblebees and bees.

Caution: Like other currants, an alternate host of white pine blister rust: do not plant it close to Weymouth pines.

Did you know?

• Plant hunter David Douglas brought it from north-west America to England in the 1820s; it was said that this one shrub alone was worth the cost of his whole expedition.
• In its homeland it is pollinated by hummingbirds, which visit its early flowers in spring.
• The smell of the leaves reminds some people of blackcurrant, and others of a cat’s litter tray.