Golden Clove Currant Is Absolutely Scentsational!

scentsational bloom and good looking foliage

 Today is the day to visit my garden! Ribes odoratum is in bloom and the clove scent is wafting about the garden. When you catch its delicious scent you'll wonder why the taxonomist dropped odoratum for aureum.  Seriously, the flowers are indeed a lovely golden (aureum) color, but, this plant is ALL about that clove scent.   You don't have to press your face into these flowers to notice it at all.

The lobed leaves and the reddish stems are also part of the ribes package.

It's quite a charming smaller shrub in my garden and the blue-green lobed leaves area good foil for the strappy daffodil leaves of early spring. The sweet scented golden flowers are followed by dark berries in mid-summer.

Clove Currant has good wildlife value

Honestly, I grow it for the scent, but, the songbirds would thank me if I could insure fruit set. It's a favorite food of the American Robin, Eastern Bluebird, Brown Thrasher, Cardinal, Cedar Waxwing, Chickadee,     Gray Catbird, Red-eyed Vireo and Wood Thrush.  It's also a food source for chipmunks and squirrels!

you'll understand that I will continue to think of Clove Currant as Ribes odoratum and not Ribes aureum

 Clove Currant can grow 6 feet tall and wide. So give it plenty of space, planted in sun or semi-shade in almost any soil~neutral, acidic or even heavy. My experience is that it is not a xeric plant, but, good drainage is a must. It's a colonizer, so plant where it can spread about.

It's native to the central United States and parts of Canada, Hardiness Zone4.  The only fly in the otherwise good ointment:  Ribes species can serve as an intermediate host for the White Pine Blister Rust fungus.  There are cultivars that are resistant to the fungus~Look for  'Consort', 'Coronet', 'Crandall', 'Crusader', 'Lowes Auslese', 'Polar',  'Titania' and 'Willoughby'.  Also, it's a dioecious shrub that requires both male and female plants for fruit production. 

It's planted near the front porch just off the stone path~perfect for catching its scent

It really is absolutely scentsational and I sure hope the songbirds get all the berries first! I'm a little miffed at the chipmunks and squirrels right now.

xoxogail

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone." She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.