Golden Currant

By Sarah Baldwin

Golden Currant (Ribes Aureum)

Three seasons of appeal make golden currant an excellent garden plant for our area. Starting in mid-April or earlier, when little else is awake, a profusion of tiny, fragrant, trumpet-shaped yellow flowers cheers the gardener and provides valuable nectar for bees. Apple green, three-lobbed leaves show up at the same time and, with adequate water, remain vibrant-looking into late summer, at which point they start turning shades of burgundy, adding warm tones to the autumn landscape.The small, smooth fruits ripen into red or black berries, which can be plucked and eaten right off the shrub (some varieties produce sweeter fruit than others) or used for jams and pies. Eventually, if not eaten by birds first, the berries shrivel into delicious raisins. Native Americans added dried currants to powdered bison meat to make pemmican.Planting and care:New Mexico horticulturalist and author Judith Phillips classifies golden currant as an “oasis plant,” meaning it thrives in moist, protected niches. Commonly found at stream margins and on damp slopes from 3,500 to 9,000 feet, the shrub is adaptable and can take full sun, but it will look better and require less water in part shade, perhaps near a canale or a gutter. It likes fertile, well-drained growing conditions; keep up a good layer of woody mulch to retain moisture and to increase organic matter in the soil. Once established golden currant does well with a soaking twice a month in summer, monthly the rest of the year. With abundant water it spreads by suckers to form a thicket. Winter pruning results in denser branching. Soft new growth is often attacked by aphids. The plant is also susceptible to blister rust fungus; clean up leaves once they drop to reduce the chance of reinfection.Landscape use: With its open, somewhat rangy habit, golden currant makes a good background plant in informal and wildlife gardens. It can also be used as a screen or hedge and for erosion control. It is particularly attractive near evergreen trees and with New Mexico privet (Forestiera neomexicana), another oasis plant, whose bright yellow fall color complements golden currant’s reddish foliage.Propagation: According to Phillips, seeds should be moist-prechilled for three months before sowing on cool soil. The plant can also be propagated with hardwood cuttings, which root readily in spring or fall.Plant type:deciduous shrubBloom time:early springSize:4–6 feet tall x 4–6 feet wideSun:part shadeMoisture:low to mediumSoil:adaptable but prefers well-drained, sandy loamUSDA zones:2–7References:Carter, Jack, et al. Common Southwestern Native Plants: An Identification Guide, 3rd ed. (Colorado Native Plant Society, 2018)Phillips, Judith. Plants for Natural Gardens(Museum of New Mexico, 1995)U.S. Forest Service, Plant of the Week: Golden Currant (Ribes aureum), by Walter Fertig.