Current currant

Now that we're well into autumn, some of our leaves have finally started to turn. Though many of the trees are just dropping leaves without doing anything fancy first (it's been just a little too dry this year), our Buffalo Currant (Ribes odoratum), which Mike planted in the first flower bed we established, has provided a nice pop of colour. Unlike many of the other flowering currants, which have brightly coloured flowers in the spring, this one's are a pale yellow-green with a "rich, spicy fragrance", according to the BBC's gardening website. Mike says they smell of cloves, as the alternate common name "Clove Currant" would certainly suggest. Though native to North America (the US and Canada), this species is naturalised in parts of Europe, having escaped from gardens. We're hoping that the flowers (and the resulting black berries) will be of use to the some of our garden's wildlife — and are enjoying the bush's beautiful foliage in the meantime.