Golden Currant vs Northern Red Currant - TreeTime.ca

Golden Currant vs Northern Red Currant

Ribes aureum

Ribes triste

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

Golden Currant
Northern Red Currant

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.

The Northern Red Currant is also known as the Swamp Red currant due to its preference for moist soil. As long as the soil is wet, this shrub can live in any degree of sunlight.

The currant itself is a bright red-purple berry enjoyed by many animals and some people for its sour flavour, similar to garden red currants. The flowers of this shrub are tiny and red or greenish-purple.

Golden Currant Quick Facts

Northern Red Currant Quick Facts

Zone: 4a
Zone: 1a
Height: 1.5 m (5 ft)
Height: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Spread: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Spread: 0.8 m (2.5 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: any
Moisture: normal
Moisture: normal
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: medium
Life span: short
Life span: short
Suckering: medium
Suckering: none


Fall colour: reddish purple
Flowers: yellow
Flowers: reddish or greenish purple
Berries: glossy black berries
Berries: shiny, sour, bright red
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Other Names: buffalo currant, clove currant, fragrant golden currant, golden flowering currant, spicebush
Other Names: swamp red currant