2018 -- Let's get this party started with some clove currant!

Hello and a belated happy 2018 to all you cheerful chipmunks out there!  🐹

Sorry for the radio silence recently. The garden was relatively dormant. The weather was chilly and/or windy and/or rainy. And I had a busted camera that kept me from documenting the winter landscape.

(Don't worry... you didn't miss much.)

So now I'm back with a new and improved camera in hand.

So come along for the ride. I've got a feeling this will be the Best Year Ever for the Garden of Aaron.

To kick things off...

You've gotta love clove currant (Ribes aureum) leafing out in mid-February! This is reliably the first deciduous plant to leaf out in my garden. And are these copper-tinged new leaves beauties or what!

Another shot of these stunning new clove currant leaves. 

Stay tuned... in a couple of weeks, clove currant will probably look like this.

Early Re-Leaf

The clove currant (Ribes aureum) started leafing out in late January.
This photo was taken on March 2nd.

It's been a relatively warm winter here in Tennessee, as in most of the Eastern U.S.

In fact, I just heard that Nashville tied its second-warmest February on record.

We did have one cold snap (8 to 12 degrees Fahrenheit) in January, but generally it's been balmy.

So it's no surprise that the daffodils popped up a few weeks early.

Trees and shrubs are ahead of schedule too, but many deciduous trees are still bare and leafless.

Nonetheless, there are exceptions.

The clove currant (Ribes aureum) started leafing out in late January!

If you're going to leaf out that early, you have to be prepared for some chilly nights. Indeed, the clove currant foliage seemed undamaged by four or five nights in the mid-20s.

(Clove currant is a North American native, but it's not native to Tennessee. The closest native population is a few hundred miles west in Arkansas. That said, it seems well-adapted to life here in the Nashville area. By contrast, other exotic plants from more distant climes - like chaste tree or crape myrtle - leaf out much later, but their tender leaves are still very susceptible to late frosts and freezes.)

I've only been growing clove currants for a couple of years. Last year, they survived but languished on a steep clay hillside, so I transplanted them to a more congenial setting a few months ago. They seem happier now and one of them even has some flower buds, so I'm hoping for perhaps at least a few currants this year! :)

Yellow flower buds on the clove currant

As for other early re-leafers, the crabapple tree has started unfurling its leaves over the past week.

'Sugar Tyme' crabapple leafing out

How about in your garden? Which are the first deciduous trees and shrubs to produce new foliage and/or flowers? And do you have exotics in your garden whose leaves are vulnerable to sudden spring cold snaps?

Class of 2016 -- Ribes aureum, Ribes odoratum, clove currant, golden currant

This clove currant (Ribes aureum) grows on a clay hillside to the east of an eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana). It gets a couple of hours of early morning sun, but is then in shade for the rest of the day. All clove currant photos in this post were taken on 4/22/2016.

I really like clove currant's soft, toothed foliage. I planted both of my clove currants last autumn and was pleasantly surprised to find out that they held onto their leaves into December and started leafing out very early in the spring (February). It just goes to show that not all 'deciduous' shrubs have the same visual impact in the landscape. Something like Vitex agnus-castus (chaste tree) or crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia spp.) could be bare for 5 months of the year, whereas clove currant could have foliage for all but 2 months of the calendar here in Tennessee.

Here's a close-up on the clove currant leaves. Sorry for the flash effect, but it was the only way I could capture any detail on the small insect (bee?) that I noticed resting on one of the leaves.

Why I'm growing Ribes aureum in my garden...

1) Although it is native mainly to western North America, there are fairly significant populations not too far west of here in Arkansas and Missouri, plus waif populations in Tennessee and other parts of the Eastern U.S.

2) The British Beekeepers Association reports that clove currant flowers provide nectar and pollen to bees.

3) UC Davis says that the flowers also attract butterflies and beneficial insects.

4) Missouri Botanical Garden recommends it as one of the best shrubs for heavy clay soils.

5) Pacific Horticulture claims that golden currant fruits are excellent for desserts and jellies. Clove currants are dioecious (meaning cross-pollination must occur between male and female plants in order for the females to produce fruit). Although there are female cultivars like 'Crandall', the straight species plants are generally sold unsexed. I bought two shrubs, but I don't know whether I have two males, two females or one of each. If I get lucky and cross-pollination does occur successfully, then the female shrub should produce fruit. 

Do you grow clove currant? If so, what has been your experience with this plant?

Note: Commenter HKCL mentions below that currant growing is banned or restricted in certain states, such as New Jersey. I could not find an official list of such restrictions in the U.S., so here is a link to a recent unofficial list.