Ribes sanguineum, +/- 50 cm plant height

• Type: Flowering currant
• Latin name: Ribes sanguineum
• Mature height: up to 2.5 m
• Height when sold: ≈ 50 cm
• Light: sunny or semi-shaded
• Winter hardiness: USDA 6–8 (in Estonia in a sheltered spot)

Planting Plant in spring (late April – May) or autumn (September) in a sunny or partly shaded spot with fertile, well-drained soil; sites with standing water are unsuitable. Dig a hole twice as wide as the pot, mix the excavated soil with compost, set the plant at the same depth it grew in the pot and water generously. Space plants 1–1.5 m apart.

Watering Water a young plant regularly for the first two years and more often in dry spells; an established plant needs watering only in long dry periods. Mulch the soil with bark or wood chips.

Pruning Prune straight after flowering: remove the oldest and dead branches and thin the shrub; it flowers on last year's shoots.

Feeding and winter care Feed in spring with compost or an organic fertiliser and, if needed, with a complex fertiliser in spring – early summer; give no nitrogen in autumn. In Estonia the plant is hardy in a sheltered spot; protect a young shrub in its first winters with mulch and spruce boughs and cut frost-damaged shoots back in spring.