Looking bodacious in the garden this week is the purple-leaf elderberry, Sambucus ‘Chocolate Marzipan’. We imported this into the US in 2020, from the breeder, England’s Cotswold Garden Flowers. This particular clump is only 3 years old from a one quart pot, and now measures 8′ tall x 10′ wide. Junked cars in your neighbor’s yard are no longer a problem at the recommended rate of one elderberry per old pickup. Slightly moist, rich soils produce the fastest growth. It goes without saying that this is not for small, city gardens, although if I lived in an HOA, I’d plant them everywhere just to drive them nuts. Hardiness Zone 5a-9a.
Wow, this might just be the plant I need. I live in St. Paul, MN, which is considered zone 5a. I wonder if this plant would come back from the roots after a tougher than usual winter. I grow oakleaf hydrangeas here. Most winters cut the plants all the way back to the ground but they grow strongly from the roots and become substantial bushes by the end of the summer. I don’t get much in the way of flowers but that’s fine since I grow it for its leaves. I am thinking that this sambucus might grow the same way for me? And–are the berries edible?
Love the HOA comments! So true.
Beautiful! Live in HOA N WISH I could
Does this fast grower also invade a space?
It doesn’t run at all.
Lovely
I love mine! It’s beautiful!
Very nice!
Hi Tony, These trees are so beautiful! Here in our Zone 6 just NE of Philadelphia, I help a friend in her garden. This shrub regularly dies out for her. Is there any soil condition that spells death? We have done soil tests but find nothing exceptional.
Kind Wish, Susan Yeager
I can’t say I’ve ever heard of this sambucus dying. Was it this cultivar, or one of the European selections that regular die when the weather turns warm? Average to moist soils are the key to success, if you are growing a heat tolerant cultivar.
I’M PROBABLY GOING TO FOMENT SCOWLS WITH THIS COMMENT. WHEN I AM LOOKING FOR A BLACK SHRUB 3-SEASON PRESENCE IN A BED, I DON’T WANT SOMETHING THAT IS PARTIALLY BLACK 3-SEASON, WHICH SEEMS INDICATED IN THIS PHOTO.
We’re not aware of any shrubs that will be black purple for moe than a few months in our climate, since most of the black pigment is anthycyanin, which typically breaks down in heat. Small trees like Acer ‘Crimson Sunset’, Prunus ‘Schubert’, and Styrax ‘Evening Light’ hold their color well for us from spring thru summer. Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Bailmacseven’ also holds it’s color fairly well during the summer, as does the Sambucus although the leaves emerge green, before turning black.