(Alpine Currant)

Unlike its edible kin, gooseberries and currants, the Alpine currant, a native of Europe, is grown mostly as a hedge or specimen plant for its size, shape, glossy leaves and tolerance of pruning. It is a medium-sized, hardy deciduous shrub that with age has many branching stems and takes a spreading shape. It is dioecious (plants are either male or female) and the female plants have greenish yellow flowers of very little ornamental value. The leaves are green to dark-green, slightly lobed, toothy,...

(Alpine Currant, Green Mound Alpine Currant)

Unlike its edible kin, gooseberries and currants, the Alpine currant, a native of Europe, is grown mostly as a hedge or specimen plant for its size, shape, glossy leaves and tolerance of pruning. It is a medium-sized, hardy deciduous shrub that with age has many branching stems and takes a spreading shape. It is dioecious (plants are either male or female) and the female plants have greenish yellow flowers of very little ornamental value. The leaves are green to dark-green, slightly lobed, toothy,...

(Golden Currant)

Grown for its clove-scented flowers and its edible berries, this small to medium-sized deciduous shrub from central and western North America makes an excellent subject for the ornamental or culinary garden. Its showy drooping clusters of small, five-lobed, bright yellow flowers appear in mid- to late spring, and are visited by hummingbirds. Small, tart, juicy, several-seeded "currants" follow, ripening to black or yellow in mid- or late summer. The smooth, light green, three-lobed leaves turn purplish...

(Fragrant Golden Currant)

Grown for its clove-scented flowers and its edible berries, this small to medium-sized deciduous shrub from the central United States makes an excellent subject for the ornamental or culinary garden. Its showy drooping clusters of small, five-lobed, bright yellow flowers appear in mid- to late spring, and are visited by hummingbirds. Small, tart, juicy, several-seeded "currants" follow, ripening to black or yellow in mid- or late summer. The smooth, light green, three-lobed leaves turn purplish tones...

(Black Currant)

Grown for its flavorful berries, black currant is a small to medium-sized deciduous shrub from Eurasia. The cultivar 'Ben Lomond' produces abundant clusters of relatively large, flavorful, few-seeded fruits. The firm, tart, long-lasting berries ripen purple-black in midsummer. They are preceded by drooping clusters of inconspicuous greenish and purple flowers in spring. The fruits are excellent for preserves, pies, and sauces. The toothed, three-lobed, maple-like leaves emit a pungent odor when bruised....

(Black Currant)

Grown for its flavorful berries, black currant is a small to medium-sized deciduous shrub from Eurasia. An heirloom variety introduced before 1885, 'Boskoop Giant' produces clusters of plump, juicy, exceptionally flavorful, few-seeded fruits. The round, tart, long-lasting berries ripen purple-black in early to midsummer, becoming sweeter as they mature. They are preceded by drooping clusters of inconspicuous greenish and purple flowers in spring. The fruits are excellent for preserves, pies, and...

(Black Currant)

A small, productive deciduous shrub, ‘Consort’ black currant is notable for its pendent clusters of greenish-yellow flowers in early spring followed by grape-like clusters of nearly-black, tart, sweet fruits. It also has the distinction of being harmless to white pines (Pinus nigrum) because it is immune to white pine blister rust, a usually fatal disease of P. nigrum that most black currants can carry and spread. This plant needs four to five years to mature and produce full...

(Jostaberry)

Grown for its flavorful berries, this small to medium-sized deciduous shrub (commonly known as jostaberry) combines many of the best traits of its parents, black currant (Ribes nigrum) and gooseberry (Ribes uva-crispa). The spineless branches bear inconspicuous greenish and purple flowers in spring, followed by tart, juicy, small-seeded fruits, which ripen to purple-black or wine-red in summer. Larger and more abundant than those of Ribes nigrum, the green-fleshed fruits...

(Doubtful Locust)

This is a graceful deciduous tree prized its gorgeous, pendulous, clusters of pink flowers and rugged constitution. Its parent is Robinia ambigua, a species designated for new plants resulting from the cross of Robinia pseudoacacia and Robinia viscosa, both native to North America and Mexico. The leaves of ‘Idahoensis’ are arranged alternately on the branches and divided into rounded leaflets that give them a feathery look. With its single, upright trunk and spreading branches,...

(Hybrid Perpetual Rose)

Bred in 1875 and the official flower of Washington, D.C., the American Beauty rose is a hybrid perpetual rose with amazingly fragrant blooms. It offers large deep pink cupped blooms with 50 petals. Vigorous in growth, this lovely rose was very popular in the florist trade, has made appearances in movies and is also known as 'Madame Ferdinand Jamin'.

Hybrid perpetual roses are generally thought of as the precursors to today’s hybrid tea roses. They tend to bloom in the spring on long sturdy...