Golden (Clove) Currant Bundle of 3

Ripe orange golden currant berries on the branch

Golden Currant (Bundle of 3) | Spring 2027

$89.99

Reliable shipping

Flexible returns

Pollination Partly self-fertile

Bloom group 2 of 7 (Early)

See trees that will pollenize it Currant & Gooseberry Pollination Chart

Ripening

Will it finish before your first hard freeze?

Check it on the Ripening Map (opens in a new tab)

Disease resistanceResists 1 of 3

Leaf spot : Unknown, no published data yet
Powdery mildew : Unknown, no published data yet
White pine blister rust : Resistant, 4 of 5

Scored 1 to 5. Higher resists better, and ? means no published data yet.

See it on our berry disease chart (opens in a new tab)

At a glance: Golden Currant is a currant shrub rated hardy to zone 2 in our ratings (winters to -50°F), and partially self-fertile, so a second variety nearby makes crops more dependable.

Also called	Clove currant, buffalo currant (Ribes aureum)
Hardy to	Zone 2 to 8. A bare number means the whole of zone 2, colder half included (winters to -50°F). Find your zone with our cold hardiness calculator.
Chill hours	About 800 hours (500 to 1,200). Our estimate. No published figure exists for this variety yet. Montana winters give it plenty. In milder climates, make sure your winters average at least this much. Check your chill hours or see our sources.
Pollination	Partially Self-Fertile. Bloom group 2 of 7 (early), very early spring here. Plant all three together. Golden currant may set some fruit alone, but different seedlings pollenize each other for a better crop. Its early fragrant flowers are great spring bee food. Nearby varieties that can boost the crop: Black Velvet Gooseberry (Bundle of 2), Captivator Gooseberry (Bundle of 2), Hinnomaki Red Gooseberry (Bundle of 2), Invicta Gooseberry (Bundle of 2). Bloom group is our estimate from the variety's origin and relatives. Currant & Gooseberry Pollination Chart.
Good for	Jams and jellies (8/10), feeding wildlife (8/10), pollinators (8/10), ornamental value (8/10), windbreaks and hedgerows (7/10), pies and baking (6/10). Scores are our own 1 to 10 ratings; 8 and up makes our Best Of lists.
Deer	Seldom badly damaged by deer.
What you get	Bare root, 3-5 ft. Shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring, roots wrapped in moist sawdust. Guaranteed to bud out.

Overview

Golden Currant is native to North America, with fragrant yellow flowers in the spring and sweet, scrumptious berries that are 6-10 mm diameter, globose to ellipsoid, ripening from green to yellow to red and finally black to dark purple.

Great Fit for Montana Gardens

Reaching 4–5 feet tall at maturity, these do well in all parts of Montana. A must for cold-climate growers.

Cold Hardy and Tough

Hardy to Zone 2 (-50°F or more)

Current Plant Size

These shrubs are currently 3-5 ft. tall

Bloom photo by Al Schneider

Shipping restrictions: white pine blister rust quarantine

All Ribes (currants and gooseberries) are alternate hosts for white pine blister rust, and golden currant (Ribes aureum) is named specifically in several state quarantines. We cannot ship this plant to Delaware, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, or Rhode Island, where its sale or importation is prohibited by state law or needs a state permit.

County-level restrictions also apply in: Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and West Virginia (prohibited in specific counties or townships), so we can only ship to the parts of those states that allow it. Please check your local rules before ordering.

Orders placed to a prohibited state will be cancelled and refunded.

Photos: “Grossulariaceae- Ribes aureum (Golden Currant) - 37366172626” by Kristof Zyskowski & Yulia Bereshpolova, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY 2.0; “Grossulariaceae- Ribes aureum (Golden Currant) - cultivated” by Kristof Zyskowski & Yulia Bereshpolova, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY 2.0; “Ribesaureum1pl” by Aung, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain; “Ab plant 1315 (Ribes aureum)” by Andrey Butko, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0.

Questions we get about Golden Currant

Does Golden Currant need a pollenizer?

It helps. Golden Currant is partially self-fertile, so it can set some fruit alone, but a second variety nearby makes crops more dependable. Plant all three together. Golden currant may set some fruit alone, but different seedlings pollenize each other for a better crop. Its early fragrant flowers are great spring bee food. Partners we carry include Black Velvet Gooseberry (Bundle of 2), Captivator Gooseberry (Bundle of 2), Hinnomaki Red Gooseberry (Bundle of 2).

How cold hardy is Golden Currant?

We rate Golden Currant hardy to zone 2, which means winters down to about -50°F. Our ratings come from real winters at our two Montana sites and from trusted growers across the North, not from a catalog average.

How many chill hours does Golden Currant need?

About 800 hours of winter chill (we count hours at or below 45°F), likely somewhere between 500 and 1,200. Nobody has published a chill figure for it, so that's our estimate from its relatives and origin. Golden currant blooms very early and probably needs less chill than black currants. Seedlings vary, so plant a few. Our chill hours guide has a calculator for your winters, and our research page lists the sources.

What is Golden Currant good for?

Our top use scores for Golden Currant are jams and jellies (8/10), feeding wildlife (8/10), pollinators (8/10), ornamental value (8/10). Anything scored 8 or higher makes our Best Of lists.

Is Golden Currant disease resistant?

Yes, for the diseases it's been tested for. It's resistant to white pine blister rust. Nobody has published solid data on it for leaf spot and powdery mildew yet, so we list those as unknown. Our berry disease resistance chart has every rating, the notes and the sources.

Will deer eat Golden Currant?

Not badly. Deer may nibble Golden Currant, but they seldom do real damage.

What arrives, and when does Golden Currant ship?

A dormant bare root plant, roots wrapped in moist sawdust with a vapor barrier, shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring. Sizes offered: 3-5 ft. We guarantee our plants bud out. Stone fruits can be slow, so if one still has not budded out by August 15, write to us and we credit you for the following spring.