my johns and wild elder are in full bloom and york is just starting. i may have johns and york reversed . at least they’re overlapping bloom some. i had wylewood and bob gordon 4 yrs ago that never completely ripened for me so i pulled them. too bad as they would have been heavy producers. i have a marge planted near each but someone on here said marge is a pure euro that’s self fruitful. I’ve read its a American/ euro cross but i guess that was proven wrong.
York and Johns are similar here in central NC. The midwest varieties like Wyldewood and Bob Gordon seem to be plagued by mite problems.
I found an old report from Cornell from the 60’s that makes me think perhaps virus problems may be a problem on Elderberries. No virus free repository exists to provide a source of clean plants at this time. A paper presented in 2019 discussed the virus problem with a lot of pictures. Both of the researchers on the publication have retired and and as far as I can tell, very little research on Elderberry virus problems is taking place.
I’ve found about a dozen elderberry seedlings, which must be from my York/Nova/Missouri “select” (a seedling I selected from a bundle from Missouri conservation). The strange thing is I never see them in my garden beds or other in-ground plantings. They are always in my container grown figs, seedling rootstock and other potted plants. I’m tempted to grow some out since they seem to be from my plants which should have good genetics. But I just don’t have the space.
Knoxville, TN here. I started growing Bob Gordon, Jon’s Giant, and Pocahontas this year. Pocahontas took off like a recehorse and is doing splendidly. Bob Gordon languished in the pot but is looking phenomenal now that it’s in the ground. Jon’s Giant is doing fine, but not as well as the other two.
the Herb Society Guide is amazing. thank you. i downloaded it.
and your goal to grow so many varieties is interesting. at least you got them established before the 2024 heat & drought. what part of the country are you in, and how’s the experiment going?
two-three years after planting, my Bob Gordon spread like wild fire. how’s yours doing?
i’m being way too long-winded in this vid but my polite Johns and not so polite Bob Gordon is here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45vdwz_FBOM
i have york, johns and marge. the 1st 2 are as huge as the ones in the vid. and are also sprawling. why i planted marge. supposed to stay put and produce more than 2xs the berries of the other 2. only drawback is it takes 2 years to fruit but that’s ok as i have the others in the meantime. in the 1st year marge went from 6in. to 6ft. with no fertilizer and only some mulch. crazy vigorous! i bought 10 more cuttings from Esty this spring and 9 rooted. the 1 year olds should give me a small crop next summer. supposedly the only euro elder to thrive in the midwest. id definitely give it a try.
How much better are cultivars vs wild? We have the native elderberry all over the place, so I’ve never considered it a plant to order. Do they taste better, or is it for more consistent ripening/other growth benefits?
the right Elder in the right location does give that crazy-heavy growth. my Bob Gordon did that; my concern is lateral spread across the garden. the Johns barely spread. wicked weird.
My experiment is probably totally different than any of the Elderberry groups…or why people grow Elderberries in the first place.
I wanted more diversity for my pollinators, predators and birds. So i got to enjoy some strange little wasps and bees that i dont see that often. Some things laid eggs on them… then something ate those caterpillars or bugs. Aphids attacked…then ladybugs ate them. I have several varieties of seedlings that produce very tiny berries…but lots of them. So i got to enjoy the birds wiping them out. Finally i let the birds or whatever eats the berries eat them all… So maybe in time there will be dispersal. Maybe new cultivars… or maybe they will grow in areas that i dont use. Whatever the case i think they have a place for nature.
I wanted to see if they were a good companion plant for my orchard… Most folks do not think of companion planting them… I got the idea from Stephan’s trios… but i dont think he ever mentioned them or grows them. I think they might be a great companion plant. Planting one between your fruit trees… then cutting it to the ground every Fall… The roots i think break up the soil and help with all kinds of soil health and tilth. At least where i planted mine they do.
I wanted to see if they need all the ‘care’ that most folks do. Woodchips, irrigation, fertilizers… etc. Mine dont. Maybe they do if you want more production or size or something for processing… but to do what they do on their own… so far not so much here.
I am in WV… yes we had heat and drought and all that… no issues with my elders. But again im not in it for production or berry size etc… only as an aid to boost pollinators, predators… and diversity.
My elders that are doing the poorest are an area where i thought they would do the best. A low point that holds more water… near a ditch that gathers water when the rains happen. They are doing the best in a heavy clay area that nothing much ever done well there except for weeds. I have interplanted some brambles among them and it seems that they both benefit from competition… perhaps they are companions as far as roots go.
So far i like the seedlings and wild finds the best… they have the most activity over the cultivars… I had seen that written before that nature will choose the smaller fruits first… might be a handy tool for someone only growing large fruited ones. So that foragers will choose the smaller fruited ones over the ones that you want to harvest for yourself.
most are more productive with bigger berries. the 1 wild one ive ever found, i have growing but its only 6ft tall with tiny cymes and berries. they all taste about the same. the euro are supposed to be more healthy with more antioxidants. a British study i read a few years ago tested the 2 and the euros made better medicine.
I am thinking about growing an elderberry or two as a decoy plant for figs for birds. Hoping the elderberry draws the attention. What are the latest ripening cultivars out there? I see wyldewood is a later one, anything later than that?
ive noticed the last couple years, as ive been backing off on the woodchips they are doing fine with competition with grass and other plants. initially though if you let the grass take over before they are well established, they stunt badly. i think once their root systems get big enough then they can take competition better.
Ok, you’re a ‘real deal’ enthusiast. Growing Elder to observe and test it, improve environment, etc. Always learning…
I always had my eye on WV (as a quick outlet from DC). Nice land; WV is a frequent destination!
I much appreciate what you’re doing and for the Herb Society link!
Do elederberries grow good from cuttings? I usually use root suckers for propagating, but was wondering if I could also root out some cuttings. Sambucus nigra subsp. canadensis is the species, wild plants.
If you are in the hot humid south … they may not work out.
I tried york and ranch here (southern middle TN)… and they produced a few berries year 1… nice large berries.
But after that got some kind of leaf funk, dropped leaves… never recovered… kept them for 2 more years and they never got healthy enough to produce berries again.
Had to trash them.
A couple years ago I transplanted a couple crowns of wild elder to my orchard and they are doing well.
There may be a named variety that does well in the south east… but the ones I tried could not hack it here … york and ranch.
Bob Gordon is here,