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Ribes speciosum (Fuchsia-flowering Gooseberry) - This California native deciduous shrub grows as tall as 10 feet tall by 7 feet wide but is typically seen much smaller, usually no taller than about 4 feet. It has horizontal then arching branches that celebrate the new year with the emergence of the new shiny leathery rounded leaves that are shallowly divided into lobes with narrow sharp spines between the leaf nodes. In winter to mid-spring appear the very attractive pendulous tubular red flowers with long exerted red stamens along the branches and these are followed by round red currant fruit that are decoratively held through the summer.
Plant in full sun (coastal), light or afternoon shade in a well-drained soil and irrigate occasionally to not at all - this is a drought tolerant plant in coastal gardens but tolerates more water if given it and will go late summer dormant if not irrigated. It is cold hardy to 10° F or less. A very good plant for growing under our native oaks and it is one of the showiest of the native shrubs. The flowers are very attractive to hummingbirds and the fruit attracts other birds.
Ribes speciosum is native to the coastal sage scrub and chaparral communities in California and Baja California, where it grows in the coastal and transverse mountain ranges from the bay area south into Baja California. The name Ribes comes from the Syrian or Kurdish 'ribas', a name for other plants in this genus. The specific epithet is Latin for "showy". We have grown this plant on and off since 1985. Image on this webpage courtesy of the >Theodore Payne Foundation.
This information about Ribes speciosum displayed on this web page is based on research we have conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations we have made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how our crops have performed in containers in the nursery field. Where appropriate, we will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant.
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