The Crafty Cultivator

Along with Lilacs, Golden Currant is one of my favorite plants of Spring. The clove scent of the flowers is wonderful and I can’t wait for my plant to get large and produce even more flowers. It can also be found under other common names like Clove Currant, Buffalo Currant and pruterberry (I haven’t heard that last one, but it was listed on Wikipedia, so I also included it here… if you know where that “common” name comes from, I would love to read about it in the comments).

It is native to central US and Canada. Some sources state that it is native west of the Mississippi, but has naturalized farther east. In my quick google research, I found mixed information on how far west that it is native. Most sources also start it’s winter hardiness at Zone 4, which leaves out A LOT of Canada.

The Golden Currant likes alkaline soil and is extremely tolerant of dry conditions. Although, like most plants, it prefers well drained, moist soil. It is very tolerant of different types of soil, like clay or sand based soils

It’s flowers are “perfect” (sometimes called bisexual or hermaphroditic), meaning that it contains both male and female parts, and can pollinate itself. However, you will get better fruit set if you have cross pollination (ie; another golden currant plant nearby for some different pollen).

This is probably a good time to point out that this plant also produces edible fruit, although they are not the most tasty. As my singular plant is still quite young, It hasn’t produced any fruit. Or if it has, the birds or squirrels have gotten to it before I noticed anything. Mature fruit are usually black. The Black Currants that my Dad and I were growing have been replaced with a variety of raspberries if that gives you any indication to how much we liked the taste of them. Luckily for the Golden Currant, I am growing it for the flower scent in the Spring and nothing else. The Birds can have all the fruit they want off of this plant.

The whole plant can be used, although I do not know how or what each part is used for. I want to look into this in the future, so if you have any sources, or information to share, please do so in the comments.