Read the profile here to find out whether the bloodcurrant is poisonous or edible. Tried-and-tested tips explain how to properly plant, care for and cut an ornamental currant.
Is the bloodcurrant edible and how to plant it?
The bloodcurrant (Ribes sanguineum) is an ornamental shrub with edible but tasteless berries. It grows 100-250 cm high, flowers from April to May in red, pink or white and prefers sunny to partially shaded locations. Autumn or spring are ideal for planting, with a planting distance of 100-120 cm for individual positions or 25-40 cm for hedges.
Profile
- Scientific name: Ribes sanguineum
- Family: Gooseberry family (Grossulariaceae)
- Growth type: ornamental shrub
- Size: 100 cm to 250 cm
- Leaf: round-oval, 3-5-lobed
- Flower: Grape
- Flowering period: April to May
- Fruits: Berries
- Toxicity: non-toxic, edible
- Roots: shallow roots
- Winter hardiness: hardy
- Use: single position, hedge, pot
Toxicity
The fruits of a bloodcurrant are not poisonous, but edible. Because the berries lack any aroma, bloodcurrants are more of a feast for the eyes than for the palate. The fruits are characterized by the following properties:
- Color: dark purple to black, blue or white frosted
- Size: 1 cm in diameter
- Ripe time: July and August
In the natural garden, the bushes are a valuable bird feeder. If you want to please your feathered garden inhabitants, leave the decorative currants hanging as fruit decorations so that they fill growling bird bellies. Knowledgeable breeders are trying to give new bloodcurrant varieties a tasty flavor, as the following video documents:
Video: Bloodcurrant - lots of room for improvement in taste
Size
The bloodcurrant grows as an upright, loosely bushy flowering shrub. When uncut, the ornamental currant reaches a size of 100 to 250 centimeters and is 60 to 200 centimeters wide.
Bloom
The blood currant is a magnificent spring bloomer for beds and balconies. The most beautiful decoration on the ornamental shrub are the picturesque, grape-like inflorescences. You can read all the important facts about the flower in the following brief overview:
- Flowering time: April to May (at the same time as the leaves emerge)
- Flower size: 5 mm to 10 mm
- Number of individual flowers per cluster: 5 to 30
- Flower clusters: 5 cm to 10 cm long
- Flower color: red, cherry red, rose red, red-white, white
Early flowering is a celebration for bumblebees, wild bees and butterflies. There is plenty of nectar to snack on in the numerous, simple individual flowers.
Leaf
The floral splendor of a bloodcurrant is accompanied by shapely, summer-green leaves. The leaf of a Ribes sanguineum can be recognized by these characteristics:
- Leaf shape: rounded, three to five lobed
- Size: 2 cm to 7 cm wide and long
- Color: dark green to dull green on top, light green on the bottom, felty hairy
- Special feature: smells aromatic and resinous when budding
In autumn the flowering bush takes in its leaves. This year's leaves say goodbye with a subtle, yellowish autumn color before they dry up and fall off.
Planting bloodcurrants
Important aspects must be taken into account for the correct planting of a bloodcurrant. When, where and at what distance you should plant the flowering shrub professionally, read the following sections.
Planting time
The best time to plant is in autumn or spring. Autumn planting is recommended because the bushes start the first season with a vital growth lead. A lavish abundance of flowers is the worthwhile result. In principle, you can plant an ornamental shrub with a root ball at any time of year as long as the ground is not frozen.
Location
At this location a bloodcurrant shows its most beautiful side:
- Full sun to partial sun
- Normal garden soil, ideally fresh, moist, permeable and nutrient-rich
Planting in a partially shaded location is possible if you accept compromises in the abundance of flowers.
Planting spacing
Plant an ornamental currant as a representative solitaire, impressive group or hedge. When planted at the right distance, the flowering shrub fulfills its decorative tasks brilliantly. The following table provides a compact overview:
| Planting bloodcurrants | Planting spacing | Rule of thumb |
|---|---|---|
| Individual position | 100 cm to 120 cm | Growth distance |
| Group (3-5) | 50 cm to 60 cm | half growth distance |
| Hedge (opaque) | 25 cm to 30 cm | one third of the growth distance |
| Hedge (loose) | 35 cm to 40 cm | Opaque planting distance plus 10 cm |
Associate the bloodcurrant with other spring bloomers, such as forsythia (Forsythia × intermedia) or red currant (Spiraea vanhouttei). The correct planting distance ensures that the branches do not get into each other's enclosure and that a hedge with a privacy factor still thrives.
Plant in a pot
In the pot, the bloodcurrant transforms the balcony into a sea of red flowers. The right pot size, the ideal substrate and preventative measures against waterlogging are important criteria for the perfect pot planting. The following instructions explain the details:
- Preparation: Place the root ball in the container in water for a few hours
- Bucket size: at least 30 liters
- Important: Bottom holes for water drainage
- Substrate: Potted plant soil without peat, enriched with lava granules or expanded clay
- Drainage: Cover the bottom of the pot 5 cm to 10 cm high with chippings, gravel or expanded clay
Plant the ornamental shrub as deep as it was previously in the container. A watering edge of 3 cm to 5 cm between the edge of the pot and the root disc is useful so that nothing spills over when watering.
Excursus
Bloodcurrant has no thorns
The bloodcurrant is unarmed. Hobby gardeners do not have to worry about blood flowing when planting and caring for them because sharp thorns injure the skin. The German name of the tree refers to the deep red flower clusters and dark purple fruits. For this reason, the magnificent flowering shrub is an asset to every family garden.
Care for bloodcurrants
Watering, fertilizing and cutting are the mainstays of the uncomplicated care program. So many lavish blossoms make you want more ornamental currants. If the bloodcurrant becomes a gardening problem child, care errors are often the cause and rarely diseases or pests. You can read how to skillfully care for and successfully propagate Ribes sanguineum in the following sections:
Pouring
Water the flowering bush regularly with normal water. It's best to take the watering can with you when you check on your bloodcurrant on warm days. A quick finger test shows whether there is actually a need for watering. If you don't feel any moisture up to a depth of 1 cm, the ornamental shrub wants to be watered.
Fertilize
In the bed, an organic starting fertilizer stimulates flowering. Spread ripe compost soil on the root disc in March. Rake the fertilizer in superficially and water again. As a container plant, a bloodcurrant benefits from a liquid fertilizer for flowering plants that you add to the irrigation water every two weeks.
Cutting
All currants tolerate pruning well. This also applies to the bloodcurrant as an ornamental shrub. Regular pruning prevents aging, revitalizes the flowering capacity and ensures a shapely silhouette in the bed and pot. How to cut correctly:
- Prune ornamental currants every two to three years
- Best cutting date is in February
- First thin out the bush thoroughly
- Take out one to three of the oldest ground shoots using a saw or pruning shears
- Leave 5 to 7 scaffold shoots with branches
After St. John's Day at the end of June, another time window opens for pruning care. Check the ornamental shrub in advance for inhabited bird nests. If you find what you are looking for, please postpone the pruning until a later date. If you have prescribed a rejuvenation cut to the flowering bush, the Federal Nature Conservation Act allows the radical intervention between October 1st and February 28th. On a frost-free day, cut back all ground shoots to a height of 25 to 30 centimeters.
Propagate
A bloodcurrant is easy to propagate. At the end of January/beginning of February, cut 20 cm long cuttings that have a bud at the top and bottom. Plant each cutting in a nursery pot with coconut soil. The bud at the top should still be visible. Water the cuttings. Keep the offshoots in a warm, sunny location until autumn. Just in time for the start of the ideal planting time, the cuttings have turned into richly branched bushes and can be planted out in the bed.
Care errors, diseases and pests
Failures in care, diseases or pests cause headaches. The following table describes common malfunctions, lists possible causes and gives tips for countermeasures:
| malicious image | Cause | Countermeasure |
|---|---|---|
| dried up | Drought stress | watering thoroughly |
| brown leaves, premature shedding | Leaf drop disease (Drepanopeziza ribis) | spraying with a mixture of horsetail and nettle broth |
| yellow lice, red-yellow blisters on the leaves | Currant blister louse (Cryptomyzus ribis) | dust with stone powder, spray with nettle manure |
| Leaf damage, bald damage | Gooseberry moth (Abraxus grossularia) | Reading the caterpillars, spraying them with paraffin oil |
Popular varieties
The richly flowering bloodcurrant can be discovered in magnificent varieties in tree nurseries and garden centers, as the following hand-picked selection shows:
- Atrorubens: Premium variety with exuberant flowers consisting of 8 cm long, dark red flower clusters.
- Pulborough Scarlet: strong-growing ornamental currant with deep red flower clusters, beautiful bee pasture.
- King Edward VII: royal flowers in the spring garden with cherry-red, up to 10 cm long inflorescences.
- White Icicle: white flowering variety for decorative color contrasts in combination with Atrorubens or Pulborough.
- Koja: compact ornamental currant for pots and small gardens with a maximum size of 150 cm.
FAQ
Are bloodcurrants suitable for bee-friendly gardens?
In April and May, bloodcurrants are a popular destination for bees. The exuberantly flowering trees produce abundant nectar as a reward for pollination. Up to 30 individual flowers develop on the long flower clusters. A festival for wild bees, honey bees, bumblebees and butterflies.
Are there any autumn colors to admire on ornamental currants?
As the gardening year comes to an end, bloodcurrants gradually shrink their leaves. This process can be recognized by a yellowish-green discoloration of the leaves. Some premium varieties impress with their bright yellow autumn colors, such as Atrorubens, Pulborough or Koja.
I would like to cultivate the blood currant as a bonsai. Is that possible?
Yes, cultivation as a bonsai is possible. The best time for shaping pruning is after flowering. You can cut back the fresh summer shoots in late summer or remove unfavorable branches straight away. For the first three to four years, wire in June. In later years, use tension wires to bring older branches into the desired shape in spring as soon as the sap flow makes the shoots branching flexible. A bloodcurrant is repotted as a bonsai every two to three years.
