Deciduous shrubDrought tolerantDeer resistantPollinatorsNativeFall colorFragrant

Red-flowering Currant

Ribes sanguineum

A western native shrub with dangling clusters of spicy-scented pink to red flowers in late winter and spring, one of the first nectar sources for hummingbirds. Deer leave it alone. It hosts white pine blister rust, so North Carolina bans all currants. Inland it needs more shade and water.

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Red-flowering Currant: whole plant — Photo: brewbooks from near Seattle, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Mature size: 9 × 8.5 ft; 2.7 × 2.6 m, tall × wide
Hardiness: Zones 6a–8b; USDA
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Dry to moist
Blooms: Mar–Apr; Fall color Oct–Nov

Red-flowering Currant at its mature size

A mature Red-flowering Currant grows 5 to 13 feet tall and 5 to 12 feet wide, taller than most people.

Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.

Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: NC State Extension, Calscape.

Through the year

What Red-flowering Currant looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.

Dormant · Dec–Feb

Bare upright gray-brown stems.

In flower · Mar–Apr

Hanging rose-pink flower clusters among fresh lobed leaves.

In leaf · May–Sep

Lobed green leaves, dusky blue berries.

Fall · Oct–Nov

Leaves turned yellow-orange.

Photos

Red-flowering Currant: flowers — Flowers · Walter Siegmund (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Red-flowering Currant: detail — Detail · John Rusk from Berkeley, CA, United States of America, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Growing Red-flowering Currant

Grows well in: The Pacific Northwest and California.
Good for: Drought tolerant, deer resistant, pollinators, fall color, and fragrant
Leaves: Drops its leaves in winter
Native to: Pacific Northwest and California

Spacing

VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Red-flowering Currant, that’s about 8.5 ft apart, center to center.

Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.