Which currant for fruit, flowers or a hedge?
Seven currants grown for different reasons: native fruit and wildlife, spring flowers, or a dense hedge.
Choose this if
A low native shrub for moist partial shade, woodland cover and wildlife. Its bristly red berries and musky scent make it a plant for the curious.
Grosellero ceroso
$19.00 CAD
Flowers for bees and hummingbirds on dry, rocky ground. These seed grown plants are being evaluated at Oak Summit Nursery.
A low, spreading native currant for a wet or boggy corner. Its sour red berries also feed birds and small mammals.
A native fruit and wildlife shrub grown from seed collected in Manitoba. Dark berries ripen unevenly, sometimes with several colours on one cluster.
Grosellero de clavo
$19.00 CAD
Fragrant yellow spring flowers and late summer fruit on a shrub that tolerates drought and alkaline soil. This is the species; our Crandall seedlings are a separate listing.
Grosellero alpino
$19.00 CAD
A dense, rounded shrub for a hedge, foundation planting or border. Choose it for its form and foliage rather than a fruit crop.
Deep red spring flowers for hummingbirds and other pollinators. This Washington selection is being trialled here. It came through one winter here in good shape.
A dash means our sources did not give that detail.
| Plant | Grown for | Site | Fruit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skunk Currant | Woodland ground layer and wildlife | Moist partial shade | Small red berries with gland tipped bristles; flavour reports differ. |
| Wax Currant | Flowers and wildlife | Dry slopes and open woodland | Red to orange berries; sources disagree on flavour. |
| Wild Red Currant | Wildlife and naturalized wet places | Bogs, wet woodland and stream margins | Translucent red berries, usually more sour than cultivated red currants. |
| Wild American Black Currant | Native fruit and wildlife | — | Dark berries with a complex flavour; ripening can be uneven through late summer. |
| Clove Currant | Flowers, fruit and wildlife | Drought and alkaline soil tolerated | Berries change from yellow to black, with tart to sweet tart flavour. |
| Alpine Currant | Hedge and border | — | Female plants may carry red berries; the sexes of this nursery batch are not stated. |
| Twisp River Flowering Currant | Flowers and birds | A local trial; broader prairie suitability is not established. | Small blue black berries feed birds. |
What we know and do not know
Wax Currant is not recorded in Saskatchewan or Manitoba; its occurrence in Alberta is unresolved. Its flavour is described differently by botanical and nursery sources. Alpine Currant is European, and the sexes of this batch are not stated. Twisp River remains a nursery trial.