Purple Leaf Sand Cherry vs Golden Currant - TreeTime.ca

Purple Leaf Sand Cherry vs Golden Currant

Prunus x cistena

Ribes aureum

CUSTOM GROW

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

Purple Leaf Sand Cherry
Golden Currant

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.

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.

Purple Leaf Sand Cherry Quick Facts

Golden Currant Quick Facts

Zone: 3a
Zone: 4a
Height: 1.8 m (6 ft)
Height: 1.5 m (5 ft)
Spread: 1.8 m (6 ft)
Spread: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Light: any
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: dry, normal
Moisture: normal
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: medium
Life span: short
Life span: short
Suckering: low
Suckering: medium

Toxicity: the leaves and seed are slightly toxic

Foliage: purple leaves
Fall colour: dark red
Fall colour: reddish purple
Bark: dark red to purple
Flowers: pinkish
Flowers: yellow
Fruit: dark red fruit
Berries: glossy black berries
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: AB, BC
Other Names: purpleleaf sandcherry
Other Names: buffalo currant, clove currant, fragrant golden currant, golden flowering currant, spicebush