Northern Red Currant vs Northern Black Currant - TreeTime.ca

Northern Red Currant vs Northern Black Currant

Ribes triste

Ribes hudsonianum

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

CUSTOM GROW

Northern Red Currant
Northern Black Currant

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.

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.

Northern Red Currant Quick Facts

Northern Black Currant Quick Facts

Zone: 1a
Zone: 3a
Height: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Height: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Spread: 0.8 m (2.5 ft)
Spread: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Light: any
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: normal
Moisture: normal, wet
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: medium
Life span: short
Life span: medium
Growth form: upright to prostrate, thicket-forming
Spreading: seeds - low, layering - low
Suckering: none
Maintenance: medium


Flowers: reddish or greenish purple
Flowers: small white, in clusters
Bloom time: spring to early summer
Berries: shiny, sour, bright red
Berries: black, edible
Flavor: bitter
Harvest: mid to late summer
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


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