Red Currant vs Purple Leaf Sand Cherry - TreeTime.ca

Red Currant vs Purple Leaf Sand Cherry

Ribes rubrum

Prunus x cistena

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

CUSTOM GROW

Red Currant
Purple Leaf Sand Cherry

Red Currant is a deciduous shrub native to western Europe. It features five-lobed, maple-like leaves, and bright red berries that can be used in jams, sauces, and fresh eating.

Although this shrub is self-fertile, it will be more productive if another pollinator is present. For year over year high yields, ensure you fertilize (bone meal), prune, and mulch your Red Currant shrub.

Purple Leaf Sand Cherry provides bright reddish-purple leaves that turn bronze-green in the fall. In the spring, tiny flowers with a pinkish white hue bloom. The flowers are small, but the impact comes from the shrub blossoming all at once.

The Purple leaf sand cherry can be susceptible to pests and diseases in more humid areas; a typical life span is approximately 15 years. Not suitable for a privacy hedge on its own but is often alternated with lilacs. Often used as an accent plant that attracts birds and bees.

Red Currant Quick Facts

Purple Leaf Sand Cherry Quick Facts

Zone: 3a
Zone: 3a
Height: 1.5 m (5 ft)
Height: 1.8 m (6 ft)
Spread: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Spread: 1.8 m (6 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: any
Moisture: normal
Moisture: dry, normal
Growth rate: fast
Growth rate: medium
Life span: medium
Life span: short
Suckering: none
Suckering: low
Maintenance: medium


Toxicity: the leaves and seed are slightly toxic
Foliage: purple leaves
Fall colour: dark red
Bark: dark red to purple
Flowers: pinkish
Fruit: dark red fruit
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Other Names: purpleleaf sandcherry