Is Golden Currant deer resistant?
Ribes aureum
Light browsing at worst; rarely ruined.
Not listed by Rutgers NJAES. Rated deer-resistant by El Paso County CSU Extension, whose list is a single category, mapped conservatively to Seldom Severely Damaged.
About Golden Currant
The flowers come in drooping clusters, yellow, spice-scented, deepening to orange as they age, and the fruit behind them ripens orange, red or black and is edible. It sits on the western resistant list, though captive deer at Logan, Utah were recorded browsing the twigs and foliage from the end of May through to August, so read it as usually left alone rather than safe. It is humidity that spoils this one. In damp, still air it picks up anthracnose, powdery mildew and fungal leaf spot, so give it room and keep water off the foliage. Soil it will forgive almost anything: dry through to seasonally flooded, poor ground, clay, real drought. Check local rules before you buy. Golden currant is an alternate host for white pine blister rust, which infests five-needled pines, and ten eastern states ban Ribes outright. It spreads by rhizomes and sprouts again after cutting, so it will make a colony if nothing stops it.
Similar to Golden Currant
Other shrubs with the same deer rating.
- Antelope BitterbrushPurshia tridentataSeldom damaged
- Anthony Waterer SpireaSpiraea x bumaldaZones 3–8Seldom damaged
- Apache PlumeFallugia paradoxaZones 6–10Seldom damaged
- Armstrong JuniperJuniperus chinensis 'Armstrongii'Zones 4–9Seldom damaged
- Autumn OliveElaeagnus umbellataZones 4–9Seldom damaged
- Autumn SageSalvia greggiiZones 6–9Seldom damaged
Where Golden Currant grows
Hardy across most of these 50 states on zone range alone. Mountain and coastal areas sit outside the ranges used here, so check your own zone before ordering.
- Pennsylvanianative
- New Jerseynative
- New Yorknative
- Connecticutnative
- Massachusettsnative
- Virginia
- Marylandnative
- Michigannative
- Wisconsinnative
- Ohionative
- Indiananative
- Illinoisnative
- Minnesotanative
- Missourinative
- North Carolina
- Tennesseenative
- Georgia
- Texasnative
- Coloradonative
- Californianative
- Oregonnative
- Washingtonnative
- New Hampshire
- Vermontnative
- Maine
- Rhode Island
- Delaware
- West Virginia
- Kentucky
- South Carolina
- Florida
- Alabama
- Mississippi
- Louisiana
- Arkansasnative
- Oklahomanative
- Kansasnative
- Nebraskanative
- Iowanative
- North Dakotanative
- South Dakotanative
- Montananative
- Wyomingnative
- Idahonative
- Utahnative
- Nevadanative
- Arizonanative
- New Mexiconative
- Alaska
- District of Columbia
Highlighted states are within its native range according to the USDA PLANTS database, where it is native to 34 US states in total.
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Every list Golden Currant belongs to.
Hardy in these zones
Common questions about Golden Currant
- Is Golden Currant deer resistant?
- Golden Currant (Ribes aureum) is rated Seldom Severely Damaged on the Rutgers NJAES four-tier scale. Light browsing at worst; rarely ruined.
- What hardiness zones does Golden Currant grow in?
- Golden Currant is hardy in USDA zones 4 to 8. Outside that range it will either not survive winter or will struggle with summer heat.
- Does Golden Currant grow in shade?
- Yes. Golden Currant tolerates part shade, which makes it one of the options for a shaded bed where deer also browse.
- How big does Golden Currant get?
- Mature height is roughly 120–120 in. Growth rate is moderate.