Ribes speciosum
Fuchsia flowered currant
- Height × spread
- 2m × 2.5m
- Position
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Average winter to - 10C (RHS H4)
- Flowers
- Spring
Availability
Please ask in store about availability
Many plants are seasonal. Call 01234 567890 to check current stock.
About this plant
This good looking, slightly tender shrub has bright green, lobed leaves that look a little like clover. It has red stems and produces red fuchsia-like flowers in pendulous clusters during April and May. It also has spines and can sometimes produce gooseberry fruits. It is often grown spread-eagled against a wall where it forms a delightful tracery. It looks exotic with its dangling flowers, as though they are only lightly attached to the plant and could be removed at a touch.
- Flower colour
- Red
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Stem colour
- Brown, Red
- Fruit colour
- Red
- Variegated
- No
- Scent
- No
- Shape
- Bell
- Height
- 2m
- Spread
- 2.5m
- Season of interest
- Spring
- Flowers in
- Spring
- Evergreen
- Evergreen
- Garden style
- Mediterranean garden, Gravel garden, Cottage garden
- Sun or shade
- Likes full sun
- Soil type
- Clay, Loam (normal)
- Soil pH
- All types
- Drainage
- Well drained soil
- Hardiness
- Average winter to - 10C (RHS H4)
- Borders & containers
- Borders
- Use for
- Wall cover, Structural, Rabbit resistant, Bee attraction
- Walls
- East, South, West facing
- Maintenance
- Easycare – low/no maintenance
- Hazards
- Yes, stems are prickly/thorny
- Pet safe
- Yes – listed in our pet-safe plants
Spring
Spring - late · Outdoors
Feed with slow release fertiliser
Apply a general purpose slow release fertiliser, spreading it around the root area of the plant as it is coming into growth. (Or apply a liquid feed at regular intervals throughout the growing season.)
This is a simple way to provide a nutrient boost as a single annual procedure.
Spring-Autumn · Outdoors
Water during dry periods
For plants in the ground, when there has been little or no rain for a period of 7-10 days and the soil is dry, give it a deep watering and repeat weekly until there is a downpour of rain. Check plants in pots more frequently, especially in hot weather.
Spring - early-mid · Planting
Prune after flowering
When the plant has flowered, cut all the flowered shoots back to healthy buds that are lower on the stems. When the plant is established, take out a quarter of the oldest branches to the ground at this time.
Planting & general
Outdoor planting · Planting
Add root growth stimulant to the planting hole
Mycorrhizal fungi helps roots establish quickly, so they absorb water and nutrients more efficiently. It comes as a powder, granule or gel. Add to the planting hole or container, and to the plant's rootball before planting in the hole. For "bareroot" plants use a gel.
Found in
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