Native plant

[Herb]

In England Flowering Currant is a very highly thought of shrub. On the Canadian west coast it's rather despised because it's a native plant. The great thing about native plants though is that they're usually pest-free and don't need much attention, not even watering.

This one in our garden has had no attention at all since we planted it about 5 years ago. It's grown rather slowly in that time because it was in heavy shade. There was a very tall evergreen hedge on the other side of the fence and a huge Douglas Fir in the next door garden overshadowed it too.

The hedge and the Douglas Fir were removed this last summer, so now the Flowering Currant gets far more light & I expect it'll now start to get much bigger. It certainly looks as if it's off to a good start this spring.

[eastwood2007]

How very pretty! Does it produce berries?

[Herb]

Yes, it produces berries. People often think that they must be similar to the domestic Black Currant because they're closely related. But one taste soon persuades them otherwise - they're horribly bitter & quite inedible.

[KellieD]

I'm a West coast native in the States and this is my most favrite shrub, native or not. How could anyone despise this?!!