Common Snowberry vs Golden Currant - TreeTime.ca

Common Snowberry vs Golden Currant

Ribes aureum

Symphoricarpos albus

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

Golden Currant
Common Snowberry

Golden Currant produces berries for jams, jellies, sauces and even pemmican. This currant bush is very dense, allowing for use as a hedge, windbreak, or wildlife habitat.

This plant is also a very popular rootstock to graft popular red and white currant varieties to. The resulting plants are taller, more productive, and easier to harvest.

Common Snowberry is a small deciduous shrub with characteristic white to pink flowers and clusters of white fruit.

This North American native species is very adaptable, and can be used for erosion control in riparian and restoration areas. Snowberry's fruit attracts wildlife, and livestock can consume the berries without issue.

Golden Currant Quick Facts

Common Snowberry Quick Facts

Zone: 4a
Zone: 1a
Height: 1.5 m (5 ft)
Height: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Spread: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: full sun
Moisture: normal
Moisture: dry, normal
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: fast
Life span: short
Life span: short
Suckering: medium
Suckering: none


Toxicity: berries toxic to humans
Fall colour: reddish purple
Bark: red-brown shredded bark
Flowers: yellow
Flowers: pink to white flowers in spring
Berries: glossy black berries
Berries: white waxy berries
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Other Names: buffalo currant, clove currant, fragrant golden currant, golden flowering currant, spicebush
Other Names: common snowberry