PlantFiles: Redflower Currant, Flowering Currant, Winter Currant
Ribes sanguineum

I ordered a bunch of these bareroot from the King Country Conservation plant sale. They all thrived in dry part shade. They took 3 years to bloom, but then were spectacular. Good hummingbird plant. Fast growing.

When you see the first flowers on this plant....watch for the Hummingbirds returning to the Pacific North West from their vacations down south. Native to Southern British Columbia and south.

"Native to Dry open woods, rocky slopes, disturbed sites at low to middle elevations. The berries are edible but insipid. They were eaten by various Coast Salish gruops such as the Saanich, Cowichan, Squamish, and Sechelt, but they were not highly regarded. They were eaten fresh but not usually collectred for drying." - Plants of Coastal British Columbia including Washington, Oregon & Alaska by Pojar and Mackinnon.

bears pendulous, red flower clusters on a 6-8 foot shrub in spring, followed by blue to black berries in fall that are unpalatable to humans. Some think this shrub is the most striking of the flowering currants and consider it the best ornamental of the Ribes genus. The leaves are maple-like and turn yellow in autumn. This shrub prefers dry to moist, well-drained sites in full sun to partial shade. It would be an excellent choice as a landscape plant, soil stabilizer, natural hedge, or in the outer row of multi-row windbreaks.

Wildlife benefit: Provides cover for upland game birds and small mammals. Fruit is eaten by a variety of songbirds and small mammals.

Seed can be sown by birds (eating the berries) so you can end up with a lot of them! Gives great colour in late winter when there's no a lot else flowering.