Northern Gooseberry vs Falsebox - TreeTime.ca

Northern Gooseberry vs Falsebox

Ribes oxyacanthoides

Paxistima myrsinites

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

CUSTOM GROW

Northern Gooseberry
Falsebox

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.

Falsebox is a hardy, native evergreen shrub found in forests, rocky slopes, and open woodland sites. Though small and easily overlooked among the leaves, the maroon flowers still supply nectar and pollen for pollinators such as native bees and flies. Blooming in spring, they provide an important early-season food source. Its year-round greenery adds visual interest through the winter.

Falsebox is a low-growing shrub that tolerates a wide range of conditions, including drought once established. It thrives particularly well beneath the shade of mature trees, where few other plants succeed. With its resilience and ecological value, Falsebox is well-suited for naturalization, restoration projects, and diverse landscape plantings.

Northern Gooseberry Quick Facts

Falsebox Quick Facts

Zone: 1a
Zone: 5a
Height: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Height: 0.5 m (1.5 ft)
Spread: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Spread: 0.5 m (1.5 ft)
Light: any
Light: any
Moisture: normal, wet
Moisture: dry, normal
Growth rate: fast
Growth rate: slow
Life span: short
Life span: medium
Growth form: prostrate to spreading
Spreading: layering - medium
Suckering: none


Foliage: evergreen, leathery leaves
Bark: reddish-brown
Flowers: small, maroon-purple, fragrant
Bloom time: summer
Berries: purple or purplish black
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, QC, NL, YT, NT
Native to: AB, BC
Other Names: canada gooseberry, canadian gooseberry
Other Names: false box, mountain boxwood, mountain lover, myrtle boxwood, oregon boxleaf, oregon boxwood