Ribes cereum Douglas var. pedicellare

Also Called: Whiskey Current

Seed

No experience.

2008  The above image shows wax current berries. The birds love to eat these and, after the berries get very ripe, will get drunk on the fermentation.

Cutting

No experience.

Transplant

2002  When I was constructing our front side terrace, a rather large current bush was in just the wrong place. I dug out the bush - it had a very deep, downward root system - not a tap root but just as deep. I got most of the root system and cut the top of the bush back severely to reduce transpiration. I planted the bush on the other side of our lower driveway and mulched it well. The wax current lived for that summer but died over the winter. The image on the left is the wax current after it had died.

2005  The image at the top of this page shows how the wax current bushes line our lower driveway. However, they don't extend to the top of the driveway so early this spring, I dug out a couple of very small wax current bushes which had minimal root systems and transplanted them next to the driveway.

2008  TThe image on the right is one of these bushes. Both wax current are still alive but not growing rapidly. For some inexplicable reason, the critters are eating my transplanted bushes. They do not seem to eat the wild ones so I wonder why they are eating the ones I transplanted.

Future Plans

2008  I would like to have 2 or 3 more wax current bushes along our lower driveway. I have picked out 2 possible wax currents to transplant next year and will also try planting seeds, both indoors and outdoors - if I can get to them before the birds eat them all.