Purple Leaf Sand Cherry vs Alpine Currant - TreeTime.ca

Purple Leaf Sand Cherry vs Alpine Currant

Ribes alpinum

Prunus x cistena

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Alpine Currant
Purple Leaf Sand Cherry

Alpine Currant is a great shrub to plant along sidewalks, near building or at your property boundary as a hedge or accent species. It is widely used by commercial landscapers in parking lots and near buildings because of its hardiness, attractiveness, and pollution tolerance.

While Alpine Currant produces edible berries, they are not palatable.

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.

Alpine Currant Quick Facts

Purple Leaf Sand Cherry Quick Facts

Zone: 2a
Zone: 3a
Height: 1.5 m (5 ft)
Height: 1.8 m (6 ft)
Spread: 1.5 m (5 ft)
Spread: 1.8 m (6 ft)
Moisture: normal
Moisture: dry, normal
Light: any
Light: any
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no
Fall colour: dark red
Berries: small, bright red
Flowers: greenish yellow and fragrant
Flowers: pinkish
Bark: dark red to purple
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: medium
Life span: medium
Life span: short
Suckering: low
Suckering: low




Toxicity: the leaves and seed are slightly toxic
Other Names: mountain currant
Other Names: purpleleaf sandcherry