Bitter Gooseberry’s understated charms probably explain why you can rarely find it at California native nurseries, but it is one of only a handful of species in the Ribes family that are truly local to the Los Angeles area. Whatever its lack of extroversion, the seriously underappreciated Ribes amarum more than makes up for any perceived deficits by virtue of its absolute perfection as an understory plant for Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia), which is where you will often observe it growing in the wild.
Once established, Ribes amarum needs virtually no supplemental water, making it an ideal companion planting for these mighty trees, which can be weakened or even killed by regular summer watering. (It would also do well, presumably, in the dappled shade of any large tree’s canopy.)
From the proper perspective, even its somewhat leggy form can be seen as a virtue: a single plant quickly forms a sprawling but manageable, thorny little thicket, a great place for birds to escape from well-fed but wicked pussycats. While they’re hiding out, birds love to feast on its spiny fruit (which is also humanly edible but scarcely worth the effort).
Most importantly, we feel planting Bitter Gooseberry is an act of renewal, reintroducing a long-lost, former inhabitant to our oak-graced neighborhoods.
We offer Ribes amarum in 10″ deepots, ready to take off (they are super fast) in that particularly problematic spot in your garden that calls out for plants that prefer “dry shade.”
