York Elderberry Plant

Thank you for your question. Sambucus nigra are European elderberries; 'York' is a Sambucus canadensis, an American elderberry.

The Sambucus canadensis elderberries should be fully ripe before consuming, but they can be consumed raw. You may find that the berries are more tasty when cooked (especially if you're planning to make jelly or elderberry syrup). You can also eat the flowers if you don't mind foregoing some berries in the process. They're great when battered and fried like fritters!

All varieties of elderberries' seeds,leaves,stems and roots are poisonous.
Only the berries;properly prepared are ok for consumption;cooked,dried or processed in a safe way.Eaten raw;elderberries can cause stomach distress.

elderberries are great for chickens as it help prevent the bird flu, but i will not pay nearly 100.00 for them here when you can find cuttings for around 3 dollars each they are easy to propagate from cutting, I have over 200 plants in bloom now I harvested off the road side, they grow wild along road way near water, once roots are established don't disturb them. there are great info on the interwebs on have to clone care and harvest elder loves water needing a gallon of water per week plant in wet areas in full sun.

Thank you for your question. Sambucus nigra are European elderberries; 'York' is a Sambucus canadensis, an American elderberry.

It seems not to hurt the plant, and does keep it shorter. May also reduce its tendency to send out runners. But if you want the plant for wildlife value or maximum berry production, as I do, I'd leave it tall.

We have problems with deer eating our cherry trees, lettuce, bean sprouts and tons of other things, but have not yet had them bother our elderberries in 3 years time. Most of our problem is birds eat the berries as they ripen. We are going to try bird netting this year.

There’s no reason you can’t. They are quite hardy though and do well here in Maine in the ground. If you do grow in a container it will need to be large as the plants can get really big. You will need to protect the roots in the winter if you live in a cold area as you will be allowing frost to penetrate from all sides.

My Elderberries came as bare roots. I live in central New York and I find that bare roots work great when planting in the early Spring, as we can get frost into late May.

We appreciate you reaching out to us. Because weather and soil conditions vary so much from year to year and even within your zone, it's best to think of your planting time as a range of favorable conditions instead of an exact time.

You can plant new plants and trees:
1) when the ground is not frozen.
2) when daytime temperatures are above freezing (32ºF) and below 90ºF.
3) when extreme weather (blizzard, hail, torrential rain, etc.) is not in the forecast. Be sure to keep plants watered if you're transplanting in warm and/or dry weather.

If you have any further questions please don't hesitate to reach back out to us. Have a great day!