Flowering Currant

Flowering Currant (Ribes sanguineum) is one of the first shrubs to wake up in a cold garden, hanging clusters of deep pink to red flowers from bare stems in early spring before the leaves appear. It reaches about 2.5m tall and 2m wide, and the maple shaped leaves that follow turn yellow and gold before dropping in autumn. Birds and native bees work the flowers hard when very little else is open.

Why you'll love it

• Flowers before the leaves. Hanging pink to red clusters open on bare wood in early spring, so the display is not diluted by foliage.
• Two seasons of interest. Spring flowers, then yellow and gold autumn colour before it drops its leaves for winter.
• Tough about soil and wind. It grows in poor, stony and thin soils that defeat most flowering shrubs, and it is very frost hardy, so it suits gardens where the tender favourites do not survive.
• It feeds the birds. Nectar in spring and small dark berries in summer bring birds into the garden.

Where it works best

Informal hedging and screening. Plant 1.2m apart for an informal hedge. It is deciduous, so treat it as a spring to autumn screen rather than year round privacy.

Feature planting. A single plant near a path or a window earns its place in early spring, when the flowers are the only colour going. Site it where you will see it from indoors.

Small gardens. At 2.5m by 2m it fits a courtyard or a narrow bed, and the bare winter frame lets light into the space when you most want it.

Growing flowering currant in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun gives the heaviest flowering, though it accepts part shade. This is a cool temperate and warm temperate plant that needs genuine winter chill to flower, so cool southern gardens, the tablelands and elevated inland districts suit it best. Subtropical and tropical gardens do not give it the cold it needs.

Soil. Adaptable, including poor and stony ground, provided it drains. Dig compost through the planting hole, then mulch 75mm deep. It does not want heavy, permanently wet clay.

Water and feed. Water regularly through the first two summers, then only in prolonged dry spells. A complete slow release fertiliser as growth starts in late winter is enough, and over feeding gives you leaf at the expense of flower.

Pruning. Prune straight after flowering in spring. It flowers on wood made the previous year, so a winter prune removes the display. Take out a third of the oldest stems at the base each year to keep new growth coming through.

What to expect when it arrives

Flowering Currant is sold as tube stock, so what arrives is a young plant with little top growth and a strong root system for its size. In winter it may be leafless and look like a bare stick, which is exactly what a healthy deciduous plant looks like in dormancy.

Expect it to establish in its first season, put on real width in its second, and flower reliably from its second or third spring. Delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Browse the deciduous shrub range
• Plants that cope with poor soil
• Compare plants for cool climates
• More plants with autumn colour

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it for a hedge?

Space plants 1.2m apart for an informal hedge. Bear in mind that it loses its leaves, so it screens from spring through autumn and opens up in winter.

Will it grow in a warm climate?

Only at the cooler end of warm temperate. Without real winter chill the flowering is poor and irregular, so subtropical and tropical gardeners are better served by an evergreen shrub.

Are the berries edible?

The small dark berries are edible but insipid, and they are grown for the birds rather than the kitchen. If you want fruit worth picking, choose a currant bred for cropping.