General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Shrub
Life cycle: Other
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Full Sun to Partial Shade
Partial or Dappled Shade
Partial Shade to Full Shade
Water Preferences: Mesic
Soil pH Preferences: Slightly acid (6.1 – 6.5)
Neutral (6.6 – 7.3)
Slightly alkaline (7.4 – 7.8)
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 2 -45.6 °C (-50 °F) to -42.8 °C (-45°F)
Maximum recommended zone: Zone 7b
Plant Height: 3-5 feet
Plant Spread: 3-5 feet
Leaves: Unusual foliage color
Deciduous
Broadleaf
Fruit: Showy
Edible to birds
Flowers: Inconspicuous
Blooms on old wood
Flower Color: Yellow
Flower Time: Spring
Suitable Locations: Xeriscapic
Uses: Windbreak or Hedge
Edible Parts: Fruit
Wildlife Attractant: Bees
Birds
Resistances: Deer Resistant
Rabbit Resistant
Propagation: Seeds: Self fertile
Propagation: Other methods: Cuttings: Stem
Pollinators: Flies
Bees
Containers: Not suitable for containers
Miscellaneous: Tolerates poor soil
Dioecious

Image
Common names
  • Alpine Currant

Photo Gallery
Location: This is the Place Heritage Park, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Date: 2016-06-25
Tentative ID.
Location: This is the Place Heritage Park, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Date: 2016-06-25
Tentative ID.
Location: Hinsdale, Illinois
Date: summer in 1984
group along church foundation
Location: Home
Location: Botanical Garden of the Technical University of Delft
Date: 2024-09-20
Location: Botanical Garden of the Technical University of Delft
Date: 2024-09-20
Location: Clinton, Michigan 49236
Date: 2017-07-08
"Ribes alpinum, 2017, [Alpine Currant], RYE-beez, 5x6 ft #Shrub,
Location: Clinton, Michigan 49236
Date: 2017-07-08
"Ribes alpinum, 2017, [Alpine Currant], RYE-beez, 5x6 ft #Shrub,
Location: Naperville, Illinois
Date: 2019-09-19
several shrubs together
Location: Naperville, Illinois
Date: 2019-09-19
summer foliage
Comments:
  • Posted by ILPARW (southeast Pennsylvania - Zone 6b) on Apr 23, 2019 11:04 AM concerning plant:
    This European species of currant has been somewhat commonly planted in the Chicago, Illinois region; offered by a good number of conventional nurseries. It is a plain, reliable species of shrub that is often used for lower hedges, sheared or not sheared, or a group of medium height shrubs. It is mostly used by landscape designers rather than the general public. In the ornamental nursery trade, it is really the male clones that are used, and I have never seen any female clones that might produce some red berries. The biggest reason for this is that currants and gooseberries (Ribes) are the alternate host for the White Pine Blister Rust Disease that is a destructive fungus disease on the Eastern White Pine in more northern latitudes as northern Wisconsin & Minnesota & Michigan, New England, and southeast Canada. The male form of Alpine Currant is not a host to this disease. it is a nice looking medium-sized shrub with nice foliage that only develops a pale yellow fall color. It is often used as a sheared lower hedge. I have never seen it used in the Philadelphia, PA region.

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