Golden currant

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This shrub is so unusual that it is often mistaken for a hybrid of currants and gooseberries. In fact, what would you think when you saw gooseberry leaves on branches without thorns about 2 meters high and covered with clusters of black berries with a diameter of 1 cm, but not quite round, but a little oval? And they would be completely puzzled by tasting the berries: it is not gooseberry at all, but rather blueberry than currant. In fact, it is really currant, but not black currant, which is found in almost every area, but quite unusual - golden currant.

Description of golden currant

Homeland of golden currant (Ribes aureum) Is the western part of North America. He got his name from golden yellow flowers with a pleasant strong aroma (synonym - fragrant currant - Ribes Odoratum), collected in 5-7 pieces in a brush. Unlike black currants, golden blooms later (in late May - early June), and most importantly longer - up to 15-20 days.

This allows the flowers to evade frost and be pollinated reliably by bumblebees. The result is an annual guaranteed crop. And he is not small - up to 6 liters from the bush. What is interesting - after pollinating the flowers, as the ovary grows, the corolla disappears, and the pestle remains, and the berries are obtained with a “tail” at the end.

The berries are not acidic, therefore, they can be included in the diet of patients with gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer, which is not recommended for the use of blackcurrant berries, due to its high acidity. They make excellent jam (ratio of berries and sugar 1: 1). Having treated them with guests, you will perplex them in order. the aroma of currant jam, and the taste of blueberries.

Golden currant is grown not only as a fruit shrub, but also as an ornamental one. Her bushes are beautiful from spring to autumn. The tall (in height of a person) arched branches are decorated in spring for three weeks with golden flowers, the fragrance of which spreads throughout the garden, in summer with black shiny berries, and in autumn with crimson foliage. The culture has been grown since the beginning of the 19th century.

Due to its resistance to gas pollution it is widely used in urban landscaping. In Russia, currants are golden in comparison with the prevalence of her black sister - an exotic culture. However, due to its exceptional unpretentiousness - winter hardiness, low soil requirements, drought tolerance (remember the moisture lovingness of blackcurrant), shade tolerance, and disease resistance - golden currant can grow everywhere in Russia from the Kuban to Karelia.

By the way, in the United States, the cultivation of blackcurrant is prohibited due to the fact that it is a pedigree of powdery mildew spheres (sferoteka) that infect cereal crops, and golden currant is widely cultivated, since it is not susceptible to this disease.

Golden currant cultivation

Growing golden currants is not at all difficult. Perhaps the only thing to take care of is to provide a spacious (50x50x50 cm) landing pit with fertile soil, as it is a very long-lived shrub and can grow in one place for more than two decades.

It is well bred by woody cuttings. It also propagates by sowing seeds in early spring or before winter. During spring sowing, stratification of seeds (holding in wet sand under snow or in a refrigerator) for 2-4 months accelerates germination.

Golden Currant Care

The ability to branch with golden currants is much less than with black. Due to this, the hassle of forming a bush is much less. This feature is often used by gardeners to grow golden currants in a standard form.

If you constantly remove a few shoots and leave only one branch, then a trunk will form from it and you will get a very unusual "currant tree" up to 3 meters high. And if grafted gooseberries, black, red or white currants are planted on a branch of golden currant at a height of 50-60 cm, then these shrubs can be grown in a standard form. Such plants are longer, healthier, and their berries are larger than shrubs.