How to Grow and Care for Red-Flowering Currant (Ribes sanguineum)

The red-flowering currant is a large, fragrant, spring-flowering shrub native to the northwest United States. The showy clusters of blooms are a favorite early nectar source for hummingbirds and other pollinators, and the edible but bland blue-black berries also attract wildlife to your yard in the fall.

They provide year-round interest if you can offer red-flowering currants a sunny or partial shade spot. The dark green, resinous-scented foliage turns rich shades of yellow and red in the fall, and the orange-red to gray-brown bark provides winter interest. With its upright, attractive form, thisdrought-tolerant shrubis an ideal addition for the back of borders, as a specimen plant or informal hedge, or on rocky slopes to helpcontrol erosion.

Red-Flowering Currant Care

Here are the main care requirements for growing a low-maintenance, fast-growing red-flowering currant shrub:

• Place in a full sun or partial shade position
• Offer more water and shade inland, less water and more sun works in coastal areas
• Plant in a well-draining soil
• Plant shrubs at least 6 feet apart to allow adequate airflow and reduce the risk of spreading disease
• Plant in mild fall or early spring temperatures in moist soil
• Prune at the end of the flowering season

Light

Red-flowering currants can grow in full sun and partial shade. Inland, where it tends to be hotter, they often do better with some light afternoon shade, and in cooler coastal locations, a full sun position is better for prolific blooms. They usually have a more rounded, compact habit when in full sun and are more rangy when grown in shadier spots.

Soil

Red-flowering currants are adaptable to most soils, provided they're well-draining. It's not a plant that likes soggy feet. This is the perfect shrub to pick for dry, rocky spots, and it can handle slightly acidic soil pH levels well.

Water

Red-flowering currants appreciate regular watering for the first two to three years, especially during hot summers. During this time, evenly moist but not waterlogged soils are best, and mulching around the roots helps retain moisture.

These shrubs are drought-tolerant once fully established. This, combined with their love of rocky soils, makes them a popular choice forxeriscape landscapesor on the borders of large yards where your hose won't reach.

While they are drought-tolerant, occasional deep watering in hot, dry summers helps ensure continual vigorous growth, especially if your red-flowering currant is in a very sunny spot. Up the watering schedule even more for container-grown shrubs. They can handle up to 30 inches of precipitation annually.

No water is required after late summer when the leaves begin to drop.

Temperature and Humidity

Red-flowering currants can survive in winter temperatures as low as -4 degrees Fahrenheit, although they prefer milder, dry climates. These shrubs don't do well with prolonged spells of high humidity.

Fertilizer

Red-flowering currants thrive in poor soils (providing they drain well) and need little to no fertilizer. However, adding some organic matter to the soil before planting helps encourage more vigorous growth and prolific blooming.

Types

There are various red-flowering currant cultivars and hybrids to choose from. Some of the most popular include:

• Ribes sanguineum 'Kind Edward VII': Has a compact, upright habit that reaches up to 6.5 feet tall and features deep red blooms.
• Ribes sanguineum 'White Icicle': Features early-blooming, cascading clusters of white flowers on a compact shrub that grows up to 6 feet tall.
• Ribes sanguineum 'Brocklebankii': The pale pink flowers on this slower-growing, compact cultivar are the star of the show, but it also features pretty golden foliage. Grows to about 5 feet tall.

Pruning

If you're a low-maintenance gardener, you can leave your red-flowering currant unpruned and natural. However, pruning it by as much as one-third of its height on new growth straight after flowering fades helps promote a neat, bushy, compact form and profuse blooming the following season.

Propagating Red-Flowering Currant

If you want to add to your informal hedge of shrubs, it's possible topropagate these plants from stem cuttings.

Take softwood cuttings in late spring or early summer from the current season's soft new growth. Take hardwood cuttings when the shrub is dormant in late fall or winter.

Here's how to propagate your red-flowering currant from softwood cuttings:

1. Use sterile shears to take a 4-inch cutting from a branch with this season's flexible new growth.
2. Remove the lower leaves, keeping just a couple at the top of the stem.
3. Dip in a rooting hormone, if you have it, to encourage the cutting to take root.
4. Fill a starter pot with a sterile, well-draining growing medium and embed the cutting into the medium up to just below the leaves.
5. Covering loosely with a plastic bag is an optional step to help retain moisture around the foliage and soil. Alternatively, regularly mist to keep evenly moist.
6. Position in a spot where the cutting will receive bright but indirect light.
7. Dampen the soil when it feels dry. While these shrubs are drought tolerant once established, the growing medium for cuttings should remain moist but not soggy.
8. Once new roots are well formed and substantial new green growth appears, transfer your cutting to a permanent position. This can take several weeks.

For hardwood cuttings, take a longer cutting—of around 8 inches—from a thicker mature wood stem, just below a bud. Follow the same steps as you would for a softwood cutting. It can take several months for hardwood cuttings to take root.

How to Grow Red-Flowering Currant From Seed

Red-flowering currants readily self-sow in the right conditions. If you discover new plants growing, you can transplant these to a preferred position or gift them to friends, family, or neighbors.

If you want to try collecting the seeds to grow red-flowering currants from them, follow the steps below:

1. Collect the seeds once the berries are ripe (typically late summer).
2. Get rid of the pulp and leave them to dry in a dark, cool, non-humid spot.
3. Once dry, direct sow in the fall or try stratifying to aid germination and plant in early spring.
4. For stratification, keep them between 32 and 36 degrees Fahrenheit for one to three months.
5. After sowing the seeds, keep the soil evenly moist to aid germination. If you expect a cold snap, it might be best to sow in a cold frame.

Common Pests & Plant Diseases

One of the bonuses of the red-flowering currant is that it isn't bothered by too many pests or diseases. However, it isn't a foolproof shrub. The species is susceptible to aphids and the currant fruit fly (Euphranta canadensis), although, with vigilance, you can get them under control without too much difficulty. It's also host to white pine blister rust.

How to Get Red-Flowering Currant to Bloom

The show-stopping, widespread clusters of early-blooming fragrant flowers are what many gardeners grow the red-flowering currant shrub for. The red, pink, or white nectar-filled beauties make these plants attractive to hummingbirds and offer bright color in your yard in early spring.

Bloom Months

Red-flowering currant showy blooms typically emerge in early- to mid-spring, around April to May, at the same time new foliage begins to emerge. If conditions are right, you, the hummingbirds, and other pollinators will enjoy the blooms for well over a month

What Do Red-Flowering Currants Look and Smell Like?

The blooms of red-flowering currants grow in drooping clusters between 1 and 3 inches long. Each cluster has between five and 30 beautiful little individual flowers (of around 5 to 10mm in diameter each), and they can cover entire stems. Each flower has five petals and emits a fragrance that some describe as lightly spicy.

How to Encourage More Blooms

Red-flowering currants put on an impressive display with little effort from the gardener, especially in a full sun spot. However, pruning once flowering has finished helps to encourage abundant blooming the following spring. When summers are very dry and intense, infrequent deep watering also promotes vigorous growth, but be careful not to overwater. These plants hate soggy conditions.

From: thespruce