Garden tip: 2 beautiful shrubs in Marin

Flowering currant and California gooseberry are California native shrubs in the genus Ribes. Ribes sanguineum glutinosum and Ribes californicum, respectively, are deciduous in the winter with full bloom in February and March. Both plants have maple-like leaves and berries that are edible but best left for the birds.

Flowering currant, which isn’t spiny, has clusters of pink flowers. It has a fast growth rate, reaching 13 feet tall, and has low water requirements. The cultivar ‘Claremont’ is not so tall; it may reach 8 feet tall.

California gooseberry is spiny; don’t plant it close to a path. Its flowers are similar to fuchsia flowers. It grows from 3 to 8 feet tall and has low water needs.

John Thomas Howell in “Marin Flora” wrote that “our shrubs are among the choicest of our early spring flowering plants.”

— Katie Martin, UC Marin Master Gardeners