Photo: Unknown — CC BY 2.5 · source
Survives zone 3 through 9
Harvest calendar
Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.
⚠ MUST BE COOKED — raw berries, leaves and stems are toxic. This is the elder native to eastern North America, forming dense, fast-spreading thickets along streams and forest edges; its dark purple-black berries, borne in broad, flat clusters up to 25 cm across, are the type most widely grown for elderberry syrup, wine and jam in the US.
- Hardiness
- Zone 3–9
- Habit
- Shrub
- Edible part
- Flower, Fruit
- Ripens
- Aug–Sept
- Mature size
- Shrub 2–4 m; containerable when young
- Light
- Full sun to partial — best production in full sun
- Soil pH
- 5.5–7.0
- Environment
- Temperate
- Native range
- Eastern and central North America — from Nova Scotia and Quebec south to Florida and west to Manitoba and Texas — with populations extending into Mexico and parts of Central America.
- Status
- Both wild and cultivated
- Years to fruit
- 2–3 yrs
- Growth speed
- 60–90 cm/year — described in extension literature as a fast grower that fills in within a few seasons; commercial hedgerows are often planted at tight in-row spacing precisely because of this.
- Spacing
- 180 cm (71 in) apart — about 3.2 m² (35 sq ft) per plant
- Leaf shape
- Opposite, pinnately compound leaves, usually with 7 (range 5–11) leaflets, each lanceolate to ovate, 6–11 cm long and 2–5.5 cm wide, with sharply serrate margins.
- Root system
- Shallow and stoloniferous, spreading by root suckers to form broad colonies; lacks a deep taproot, relying instead on a wide-spreading network of lateral roots and rhizome-like suckering shoots.
- Fruit description
- Small berries about 5 mm across, ripening dark purple to nearly black in large, flat, umbrella-like clusters up to 25 cm wide; raw fruit has a rank, bitter edge but develops a rich, wine-like flavor when cooked or dried, and is the main type used for elderberry syrup and wine in North America.
- Propagation
- Cuttings root very easily — softwood, semi-ripe or hardwood sections all take with minimal fuss — making vegetative propagation the standard commercial method. Seed has a hard coat and needs about 60 days warm stratification (around 20°C) followed by 90–150 days cold stratification (around 5°C) in moist sand; untreated seed can take 2–5 years to germinate. Root suckers can also be dug and divided in the dormant season.
- Pollination
- Cross-pollination between two distinct cultivars — commonly paired combinations include Adams with York, or York with Nova — noticeably improves fruit set over a single unpartnered plant.
The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.
Growing guide
Fertilizing. Benefits from a modest, low-nitrogen feeding in early spring rather than heavy fertilizing — commercial growers apply roughly 1/8 lb (about 56 g) of nitrogen fertilizer per year of the plant's age, up to about 1 lb (450 g) for mature bushes. Avoid feeding at planting time, and avoid over-fertilizing, which pushes leafy growth at the expense of flowers and fruit.
How it spreads. Strongly stoloniferous — spreads aggressively by root suckers to form dense thickets and colonies, and is described in extension literature as a fast grower and aggressive competitor against weeds and other herbaceous plants once established; birds also disperse the seed widely.
Growing tips. Grows best in full sun on moist, rich soils along streams and low ground, though it tolerates a wide range of soils and some shade at the cost of fruiting. Watch for the elderberry cane borer (larvae tunnel canes, causing wilting tips and round exit holes — remove and destroy infested canes), elderberry rust (Puccinia sambuci, which can distort flowers and reduce yield), and stem or leaf-spot fungi. Because it fruits on a mix of old and new wood, canes are usually thinned rather than stooled entirely — remove wood over 3 years old plus any weak, damaged or diseased canes each dormant season to keep the thicket productive.
Grow journal
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