Prickly Currant

Prickly Currant: A Hardy Native Shrub for Challenging Garden Spots

If you’re looking for a tough, low-maintenance native shrub that can handle less-than-perfect growing conditions, prickly currant (Ribes lacustre) might just be your new garden hero. This unassuming but resilient shrub has been quietly thriving across North America for centuries, and it’s ready to bring that same reliability to your landscape.

What is Prickly Currant?

Prickly currant is a perennial, multi-stemmed woody shrub that typically grows 3 feet tall, though it can reach up to 7 feet under ideal conditions. True to its name, this plant comes equipped with small thorns along its stems – nature’s way of protecting those tasty berries from hungry critters. The shrub has a thicket-forming growth habit and grows at a rapid rate, making it excellent for filling in larger areas relatively quickly.

With its maple-like green leaves, small purple flowers that bloom in early spring, and black berries that follow in summer, prickly currant offers subtle seasonal interest without being flashy. The foliage has a coarse texture and provides moderate coverage in summer, becoming more porous in winter after the leaves drop.

Where Prickly Currant Calls Home

This remarkable native plant has one of the most extensive ranges you’ll find, stretching across Alaska, Canada, and much of the northern United States. You can find wild prickly currant growing everywhere from Alberta and British Columbia down to states like California, Colorado, and even as far east as Maine, New Hampshire, and Virginia. It’s also found in several Canadian provinces and territories including Ontario, Quebec, and the Northwest Territories.

With such a wide native range, prickly currant is incredibly hardy, tolerating temperatures as low as -62°F, making it suitable for USDA hardiness zones 2 through 7.

Why Choose Prickly Currant for Your Garden?

There are several compelling reasons to consider this native shrub:

• Native plant benefits: As a true North American native, it supports local ecosystems and requires less water and care than non-native alternatives
• Versatile growing conditions: Handles both wetland and non-wetland conditions, making it perfect for those tricky spots in your yard
• Shade tolerance: Unlike many flowering shrubs, prickly currant actually tolerates shade well
• Early pollinator support: Those early spring purple flowers provide crucial nectar when few other plants are blooming
• Low maintenance: Once established, this shrub pretty much takes care of itself
• Quick coverage: Rapid growth rate means you won’t wait years to see results

Perfect Garden Spots for Prickly Currant

This adaptable shrub shines in several garden situations:

• Woodland gardens: Excellent as an understory plant beneath taller trees
• Rain gardens: Its facultative wetland status means it can handle periods of standing water
• Native plant gardens: A natural choice for authentic regional landscapes
• Naturalized areas: Perfect for low-maintenance areas where you want something that looks wild but controlled
• Challenging spots: Those areas that are too wet, too shady, or too cold for other shrubs

Growing Conditions and Care

Prickly currant is refreshingly undemanding, but here’s what it prefers:

• Soil: Adaptable to various soil types; prefers pH between 5.0-7.8
• Water: Thrives in areas receiving 8-120 inches of annual precipitation; has low drought tolerance
• Light: Shade tolerant, making it valuable for areas other shrubs won’t grow
• Temperature: Extremely cold hardy but needs at least 120 frost-free days
• Spacing: Plant 1,280-5,120 plants per acre depending on desired density

Planting and Propagation Tips

Getting started with prickly currant is straightforward:

• Propagation: Best propagated by cuttings rather than seed, as seeds have low viability
• Timing: Plant in early spring or fall when temperatures are cooler
• Root depth: Ensure soil is workable to at least 12 inches deep
• Establishment: Keep consistently moist during the first growing season
• Maintenance: Very little needed once established; occasional pruning to maintain shape if desired

A Few Things to Consider

While prickly currant has many benefits, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• The thorns make it less suitable for high-traffic areas or children’s play spaces
• It has a relatively short lifespan compared to other shrubs
• The flowers and berries, while beneficial for wildlife, aren’t particularly showy
• It has low drought tolerance, so may struggle in very dry climates without supplemental water

The Bottom Line

Prickly currant might not win any beauty contests, but it’s the kind of reliable, hardworking native plant that forms the backbone of successful naturalistic gardens. If you have challenging growing conditions, want to support native ecosystems, or simply need a tough shrub that won’t require constant attention, prickly currant delivers. Its early flowers support pollinators when they need it most, and its adaptable nature makes it a valuable addition to gardens across much of North America.

For gardeners embracing native plant gardening or looking to create more sustainable landscapes, prickly currant represents the best of what our native flora has to offer: resilience, ecological value, and the quiet beauty of plants that truly belong in our landscapes.