Red Elderberry vs Northern Black Currant - TreeTime.ca

Red Elderberry vs Northern Black Currant

Ribes hudsonianum

Sambucus racemosa

CUSTOM GROW

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

Northern Black Currant
Red Elderberry

Northern Black Currant is a native deciduous shrub found across Canada and the northern United States. Dark purple to black berries that ripen in summer and provide food for wildlife and humans. Fragrant yellow-green flowers that attract a wide variety of pollinators.

This shrub is well adapted to moist soils and can even survive periods of flooding. It has an interesting bronze colour in fall.

Red Elderberry is an attractive, medium-sized deciduous shrub.

It produces clusters of white flowers in the spring and bright red berry-like drupes, which provide beautiful contrast against its coarse, textured green foliage.

Red Elder can be pruned as a small single or multi-stemmed tree.

Northern Black Currant Quick Facts

Red Elderberry Quick Facts

Zone: 3a
Zone: 2a
Height: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Height: 4 m (13 ft)
Spread: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Spread: 3 m (10 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: normal, wet
Moisture: normal
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: medium
Life span: medium
Life span: medium
Growth form: upright to prostrate, thicket-forming
Spreading: seeds - low, layering - low
Suckering: none
Maintenance: medium


Toxicity: toxic to humans
Flowers: small white, in clusters
Flowers: white
Bloom time: spring to early summer
Berries: black, edible
Berries: bright red berries
Flavor: bitter
Harvest: mid to late summer
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, QC, YT, NT
Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, QC, NS, NB, NL, YT, PE
Other Names: hudson bay currant, stinking currant, western black currant, wild black currant
Other Names: red elder