Oh Ribes Sanguineum, I love your flush of pink
offset against next door’s yellow Forsythia
and I just love the fact that you are both
obviously competing to get higher.
Last year I chopped you down
almost level with my fence
but even so you didn’t
seem to take offense.
You came back up
rosy and bright.
Perhaps you
were trying
to reach
the light.
Ribes Sanguineum
(Flowering Currant)
The rise and fall and rise again of my Ribes Sanguineum
Once upon a time my Ribes was a dainty shrub that burst forth into bloom in early April in my beautiful garden of 1989. I had set her in place next to a Forsythia, knowing that they would both be in flower at the same time and the contrast of vivid pink and bright yellow would be spectacular. Over the years the two friends used to vie with each other for attention, and I kept them trimmed so that they would be roughly the same height when they flowered.
Many years later, the wilderness took over. I was unable to reach the Forsythia which was by then at the back of my oversized pond, and hidden amongst various other assorted shrubs. Luckily I had taken several cuttings from the mother plant, and one was thriving nearer the house until the garden revamp in 2014. Meanwhile, I also had a yellow Genister, strategically placed in front of the Ribes, so I still had the April contrast of yellow and pink in my vision as I looked down my garden.
The furthest I could reach to in my garden was as far as the Ribes, so I did actually manage to prune her level with the fence most years. Sadly though, I gave up trying in 2012 and 2013, especially with pressures of my job. Eventually I called in a gardener to hack back everything that I couldn’t manage, and hack back he did. That made the garden look even worse, hence why I had the back part of the garden revamped by a garden landscape company. When the garden was revamped though, I was adamant that I wanted to keep my beloved Ribes, so I had them give her a real proper pruning again, back to the height of the fence.
After her severe pruning in February 2014, unsurprisingly Ribes did not give much of a display of flowers in April 2014, but she continued to make good growth and I pruned her back level with the fence. This obviously did her good, because I got a reasonable show of flowers in April 2015 after which I left her alone, apart from trimming a few bits sticking out too far from her front and sides. I left the top to see what the effects of not pruning her would be the next year.
The good thing is that my next door neighbour has a flourishing Forsythia right next to my Ribes, on his side of the fence, so I still get the beautiful stark contrast of bright yellow and vivid pink. My neighbour doesn’t often prune his Forsythia, so I am wondering which shrub will be the higher next year.
On 15th June 2015 she was back to the height she was in 2012 so maybe my Ribes will get my Plant of the Month award in April 2016.
Below are photographic comparisons of how the shrub looked between 09.04.2015 way back to 12.04.2012.
Update at the end of April 2016
The above was written in June 2015. After a warm winter, the first sign of colour on my Ribes was 12th February 2016 and she was in full flower from end of March all through April and fading away in May. See my posting Ribes and Forsythia dated 6th April 2016.
The lack of pruning back to the top of the fence last year paid off, because I got a terrific show of flowers at the top of the shrub, and it was actually just a smidgen higher than the Forsythia next door. She was back to how she looked in 2012, but better, and she definitely got the Plant of the Month Award for April 2016, in spite of strong competition from other much smaller April delights. But I won’t tempt fate, and when the flowers have faded this year I will be cutting the top back to fence height again, to strengthen the shrub for future years.
This was my Ribes progress through Spring 2016.
*******
Mentions given to my Ribes in previous postings:-
April 14th 2014
In one of my poems:-
My Ribes is about to burst
and so is my Forsythia
April 10th 2014
Meanwhile there are a few Ribes flowers after the shrub was hacked back last year, next to next door’s Forsythia.
March 16th 2014
and a few Ribes flowers have survived the drastic pruning that my “gardener” gave the bush that had perhaps its best year ever last year.
April 21st 2013
Well, we got the warmer weather, and out has come my Forsythia and Ribes, as expected. At the moment it is predominently blue Muscari, purple violets and Pulmonaria, with a dash of yellow Forsythia and pink Ribes.
March 31st 2013
Forsythia is in bud and raring to go, as is Ribes
April 30th 2012
The Ribes, which was flowering magnificently earlier on in the month, has finished, but the Genister is still in full bloom.
My List of Plants 2012
1 x Ribes sanguineum (do not prune late in the year – prune after flowering)
My Garden Transformation 
Lovely!
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