Flowering Currant
Forum Archives
Sangria
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Jun-12-2009 at 10:08pm
I bought a flowering currant a few years ago. When it blooms it has pink blossoms. My neighbor has one and his flowers are more red. Is there more than one color of flower?
I need to move mine because it's gotten too crowded with my other plants. It's about three feet wide and almost six feet tall. How much bigger will it get? It's one of my favorites. I love how long it blooms.
Thanks!
Sandra
greenmann
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Jun-13-2009 at 12:04am
Sandra, these are naturally variable from white and palest pink, to "blood red" (in german, they are called the blood currant.) Locally the natural variablity trends toward stronger pinks, usually as bright or brighter than the named cultivars, but I have seen beautiful light pinks and even, once in the Hood Canal area, a pure white in the woods. The lighter colors seem rarer here, but they are present. In height, depending on the clone and growing conditions, they can get 8 feet tall and nearly that around over time. My old ones seem to top out around 6-8 feet, but they never ever get water where they are. With more moisture in the soil, they can and do get a little larger.
Honestly, I would recommend against moving these. They have delicate roots, and indeed can be short lived in some gardens from problems with root rot and such. However, they are VERY easy to propagate if you have a mist bed, and even if not you can have decent success by taking hard wood cuttings in September and October, and just scattering cuttings directly in the ground where you want new shrubs. I make little hills of three to five cuttings in each hill. Remember to water and keep evenly moist the first year, and you have a decent chance of one or two cuttings making it in the new spot. Often these cutting grown plants are hardier and more disease resistant than the parent plant, too. I think that is because the roots adapt to the soil, rather than that of the pot/nursery, and then get shocked in transplant and some never really recover from that.
Green Man Gardens
silver_ creek
Location: Washington, Western Cascade Foothills
Posted: Jun-13-2009 at 6:37am
And if you have more than one, you usually will get seedlings popping up, as well. These little seedlings are quite easy to move.
Terry M.
Joy C
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posted: Jun-13-2009 at 2:13pm
I know it says to plant them in sunny places, but sometimes things change--The weeping willow was growing about 20 feet away from where I planted the current, and it grew fast and soon the current was growing in total shade, and doing just fine, It took about 8 years for it to get full height, and also there were hardly any seedlings after the willow put it in deep shade. I love the surprise of the flowers lighting up the area even though it was in shade. In July, the willow gets a hair cut at about head high, and looks quite gorgeous!
Joy
greenmann
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Jun-14-2009 at 8:35am
In the wild, Ribes sanguineum grows in full sun to full shade. It really is not picky about the amount of sun, and will bloom beautifully even in full on second growth, not a speck of sun showing. Those tags that say it needs sun simply aren't giving the full truth.
Actually, that has always amused me, since usually when those tags err, its on the side of shade. I don't know why the folks who made that up say it is a sun plant. Mine do well in sun or shade.
Drainagae is what is key for this species. Sun or shade, it needs good drainage. It will do ok in relatively moist forests and gardens, as long as it has good drainage. It will even do well in very dry areas with little to no extra water.
Green Man Gardens
Fern
Location: Washington, Western Cascade Foothills
Posted: Jun-14-2009 at 9:05pm
I know mine died from some root rot problem.
I wondered about that sun recommendation, it's good to hear it can take quite a bit of shade. It does seem like it likes to grow at the edges of the woods in part shade.
Fern
Sangria
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Jun-14-2009 at 9:30pm
Thanks for all the recommendations. I decided not to move it. I thinned it out a bit and I think it will be okay now where it is. Maybe I shouldn't water it as much, so it won't grow so fast.
Thanks!
Sandra
For more information about flowering currants, visit the Plant Gallery and Growing Guide.
Gardening for the Homebrewer: Grow and Process Plants for Making Beer, Wine, Gruit, Cider, Perry, and More
By co-authors Debbie Teashon (Rainy Side Gardeners) and Wendy Tweton