Northern Black Currant vs Ben Sarek Black Currant - TreeTime.ca

Northern Black Currant vs Ben Sarek Black Currant

Ribes hudsonianum

Ribes nigrum Ben Sarek

CUSTOM GROW

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

Northern Black Currant
Ben Sarek Black Currant

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.

Ben Sarek Black Currant is a compact, high-yielding Black Currant cultivar, making it ideal for smaller gardens and easy berry picking. The large clusters of flavourful, sweet-tart berries ripen in mid-summer and are perfect for fresh eating, preserves, baked goods, and liqueurs. Plants may start producing some berries after two years, reaching full production in about four to five.

Developed by the Scottish Crop Research Institute, Ben Sarek Black Currant is resistant to powdery mildew and moderately resistant to white pine blister rust. It is self-fertile, meaning it does not require cross-pollination from another variety to produce fruit.

Northern Black Currant Quick Facts

Ben Sarek Black Currant Quick Facts

Zone: 3a
Zone: 3a
Height: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Height: 1.1 m (4 ft)
Spread: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Spread: 1.1 m (4 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: normal, wet
Moisture: normal
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: fast
Life span: medium
Life span: short
Growth form: upright to prostrate, thicket-forming
Growth form: compact, dense, rounded
Spreading: seeds - low, layering - low
Spreading: layering - low
Maintenance: medium
Maintenance: medium


Foliage: aromatic when crushed
Flowers: small white, in clusters
Flowers: greenish-yellow
Bloom time: spring to early summer
Bloom time: early to mid spring
Berries: black, edible
Berries: black currants, edible
Flavor: bitter
Flavor: sweet-tart
Harvest: mid to late summer
Harvest: mid-summer
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, QC, YT, NT
Other Names: hudson bay currant, stinking currant, western black currant, wild black currant
Other Names: ben sarek blackcurrant