Labrador Tea vs Golden Currant - TreeTime.ca

Labrador Tea vs Golden Currant

Ribes aureum

Rhododendron groenlandicum (Ledum groenlandicum)

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

Golden Currant
Labrador Tea

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.

Labrador Tea is slow-growing evergreen shrub native to the boreal forests of Canada.

It thrives in wet, swampy conditions.

Labrador Tea has narrow, leathery, dark green leaves, topped by a cluster of white flowers in the spring. It is a perfect ornamental shrub for boggy, wet areas of your property.

Golden Currant Quick Facts

Labrador Tea Quick Facts

Zone: 4a
Zone: 1a
Height: 1.5 m (5 ft)
Height: 0.5 m (1.5 ft)
Spread: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Spread: 0.5 m (1.5 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: any
Moisture: normal
Moisture: any
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: slow
Life span: short
Life span: short
Suckering: medium
Suckering: none


Toxicity: slightly toxic if ingested
Foliage: leathery, orange undersides, evergreen
Fall colour: reddish purple
Fall colour: rust orange
Flowers: yellow
Flowers: white, fragrant
Berries: glossy black berries
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: AB, BC
Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, QC, NS, NB, NL, YT, NT, NU, PE
Other Names: buffalo currant, clove currant, fragrant golden currant, golden flowering currant, spicebush