Golden Currant (Ribes aureum)—California Native Landscape Plants
Golden currant (Ribes aureum) is a 3 feet to 6 feet short deciduous flowering shrub native to California.
The flowers range in color from soft to bright yellow and have a pleasing fragrance. Ribes aureum’s flower color is yellow and the flowers bloom in spring. It flowers from April to May. The shrub has erect growth and is 3 to 6 feet tall and wide. The foliage consists of light green leaves with lobed, toothed edges. Ribes aureum’s foliage is deciduous and has an attractive fall color before the leaves drop.
Golden Currant is a California Native Plant
Golden current is native to moist areas, central Sierra Nevada east to Rocky mountains. It can be found growing in the Valley Grassland, Lodgepole Forest, Riparian (rivers & creeks) and Sagebrush Scrub plant communities.
Golden currant is a very tolerant plant. I’ve seen it growing 5 feet away from a stream in the Eastern Sierra Nevadas.
Wildlife Value of Golden Currant
Ribes aureum’s fruit is edible and are often eaten by birds and other forms of wildlife. I’ve seen bushes covered with very good currants on it in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The fruit are about the size of golden blueberries and the seeds are not too bad. I find the flavor to be excellent. The berries can be either yellow, red, or purple when ripe depending on the particular plant. The flowers are well liked by the hummingbirds. Ribes aureum is great for a bird garden and attracts many species of native and migratory songbirds.
How to Grow Golden Currant
It likes sun to part shade and is adaptable to many soil moisture conditions (unlike many native plants). Ribes aureum tolerates poorly drained soils better than most other native plants. Golden current can tolerate standing in water during the wet season and also tolerate summer drought with just a little supplemental irrigation.
Golden currant is very easy to grow. It needs irrigation for the first few seasons to get established and looks best with monthly summer irrigation when established. This native plant will probably not fruit in the mildest areas of California since it needs some winter chill to set fruit.
Climate Zones for Golden Currant
Golden current is adapted to most of California except for the low deserts and grows well in Sunset Climate Zones 1 to 12 and 14 to 23.
Water Use for Golden Currant
Ribes aureum is classified as a low water-use plant for Southern California according to the Water Use Classification of Landscape Species (WUCOLS) database.
For More Information
Here are a few places to find out more about Ribes aureum.
Related Articles:
- Three Amazing Edible Landscape Plants for California Landscapes Three Incredible Edible Landscape Plants for California Landscapes Landscape plants...
- Trees for Fall Color in California for the CSE for Landscape Architects Plant Oscars: Episode 2 Trees for Fall Color in California...
- California Native Groundcovers For Coastal California California Native Groundcovers For Coastal California Groundcover plantings are a...
- Top 10 Poisonous Plants for Horses and Livestock Do You Know Which Plants Can Kill Horses? Horses, goats,...
- 12 Days of Quizzes - Day 6: Native Plants and Planting Design Quiz 12 Days of Quizzes Day 6 Christmas is almost here...
John is a landscape architect who is currently preparing to take the California Supplemental Exam to become licensed in California. He is currently a licensed professional landscape architect in Georgia and Florida. John graduated from California State University, Pomona with a BSLA degree in landscape architecture in 1997 and has extensive practice experience in residential and commercial landscape design.