Golden currant (clove currant)

Ribes aureum

Clove-scented yellow flowers in spring, then sweet black or gold berries; shrugs off drought and cold.

Type: shrub · berries and small fruit
Hardiness: zones 2 to 8
Light: full sun to part shade
Size: about 6 ft tall, 5 ft wide
Harvest: July to August
From: W. and central North America
Drought-hardy once established
Here: Hardy in the Lake Erie shore climate (zone 6b to 7a), so it can live outdoors in the ground.

Good for: food, pollinators, wildlife.

Native to: Great Plains & Texas, Rockies & Great Basin, Desert Southwest, California, Pacific Northwest, Western Canada. Hardy in zones 2 to 8.

The story

Golden currant was gathered by Lakota, Blackfoot and Shoshone peoples and dried into cakes or mixed with meat; Lewis and Clark collected it in 1806 and its clove-scented yellow flowers made it a 19th-century garden favourite. It takes drought and alkaline soil.

Planting

Full sun or part shade, any drained soil, including dry and poor. Plant in spring; self-fertile, suckering, to 6 feet.

Growing

Water the first year, then little. Prune out old stems every few years. It resists the mildew that plagues European currants.

Harvest and use

Berries ripen gold to black in midsummer; sweet-tart, good fresh, dried, or as jam. Flowers scent the whole yard in spring.

What to watch for

Currant aphid curling leaves; birds.

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More berries and small fruit

General guidance, not professional advice. Conditions vary by yard and year; for local specifics ask your county extension office. Never eat a wild plant you cannot identify with certainty. Traditional uses are shared as history, not medical advice. © 2026 Sean Priest · Irie Orchard. Terms & credits · Privacy · Home