Northern Gooseberry vs Northern Black Currant - TreeTime.ca

Northern Gooseberry vs Northern Black Currant

Ribes oxyacanthoides

Ribes hudsonianum

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

CUSTOM GROW

Northern Gooseberry
Northern Black Currant

Northern Gooseberry is a small, ornamental quality native shrub with prickly stems. You can plant it anywhere you'd plant Prickly Rose or Common Wild Rose, such as your yard.

Most people find Northern Gooseberry berries a bit tart for significant fresh eating but they are good for baking, wine or jam.

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 Gooseberry Quick Facts

Northern Black Currant Quick Facts

Zone: 1a
Zone: 3a
Height: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Height: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Spread: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Spread: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Light: any
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: normal, wet
Moisture: normal, wet
Growth rate: fast
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: small white, in clusters
Bloom time: spring to early summer
Berries: purple or purplish black
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, NL, YT, NT
Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, QC, YT, NT
Other Names: canada gooseberry, canadian gooseberry
Other Names: hudson bay currant, stinking currant, western black currant, wild black currant