Day 183: Ribes saunguineum (Red-flowering Currant) is native to the Pacific Northwest with a range which extends from British Columbia to California. Its rosy flowers occur in drooping racemes to be followed by dusty blue edible fruits. I use the word "edible" with some reluctance and will repeat here a variation of a phrase I used only yesterday: "edible" and "desirable as food" should not be confused. While the fruits of Red-flowering Currant are enjoyed by some who have developed a taste for their seedy, acrid pulp, I find them undesirable when fresh. However, they make a passin' fair substitute for blueberries when baking muffins, although you might wish to add more sugar to combat a lingering and somewhat musty aftertaste. That said, I do not grow them for the table; I grow them for the hummingbirds.
Whenever practicable, birds, bees and butterflies should be drawn to the garden with native species. To do otherwise, i.e., to plant non-native species known to attract avian and insect life, is to pull them away from their real work of pollinating and perpetuating the native plants of an area. When offered chocolate, which of us would not turn away from the peas and carrots on our plate in preference for it? Presented with sweeter, non-native fare, "the b's" will turn away from native wildflowers, leaving many unpollinated and non-reproductive; wildflower numbers decline, and "the b's" decline with them, unable to sustain themselves on non-natives which do not fill their dietary requirements. As the cycle repeats year after year, the effects become more noticeable, with improperly nourished birds, bees and butterflies becoming more susceptible to disease. That caution given, there is the additional reward of seeing a wider assortment of "b's" coming to a yard filled with native plants: rusty Rufous Hummingbirds hovering at these pink flowers just one example "currantly" occurring outside my window.
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