Ribes Sanguineum – Elkington Flowering Currant – is a compact, deciduous shrub, which has dark green leaves with attractive, small, petalled pink-red flowers in early Spring.
Arranged in a pendant cluster shape they can produce up to 30 flowers which lead onto dark purple berry fruits.
Grown primarily for their brightly coloured and scented flowers they make a very popular thornless garden shrub.
They can be used as an informal flowering hedge, as well as adding interest to the shrub border early in the year.
Their rich green leaves have a hairy, white reverse and are slightly aromatic.
The ‘Elkington’s White’, is a fairly rare variety, that bears showy, pendant clusters of pure white flowers in the Spring, followed by blue-black fruits adding further interest in your garden.
They require moist, free draining soil in a full sun to partial shady area. Once established they require very little water and are full frost hardy.
In late summer remove any dead, diseased or crossing branches to maintain a healthy, open framework and reduce the flowered shoots to a strong, lower bud.
Prune specimens grown as hedges immediately after flowering and apply a generous 5-7cm mulch of well-rotted garden compost around the base of the plant.
