Native elderberries have multiple landscape uses

Elderberry is a plant native to North America that has received a lot of attention lately from people who claim health benefits from drinking its berry juice.

American elderberries have been growing wild across the South for centuries, as they are naturally adapted to our climate and soils. They thrive in full sun, love consistent moisture, and grow best in our rich, loamy soils without needing much fuss.

With my interest piqued in this plant, I recently took a visit to Veteran Berries in Decatur, Mississippi, to see these plants growing for myself. There, I met Dewayne Hamrick, who has been growing cultivars like Hamilton, Pocahontas and several other selections that perform well here in Mississippi.

Elderberries are deciduous shrubs that typically grow between 6 and 12 feet tall, spreading by both seeds and root suckers. Each spring, new canes emerge from the base of the plant. The canes grow quickly, leafing out with opposite, compound leaves that give the plant a soft, feathery look.

Elderberries flower on new growth, and the clusters of blooms appear in late spring to early summer.

While visiting Dewayne’s elderberry patch, these blooms were the first thing that caught my attention. They form in large, flat-topped clusters that can measure 6 to 10 inches across. Their delicate beauty and fragrance can easily stop you in your tracks.

Just as impressive is the life they attract. Pollinators swarm the blossoms, and later, the berries become a valuable food source for birds and other forms of wildlife.

After flowering, clusters of small green berries appear, and these slowly swell and ripen over several weeks. By mid-to-late summer, those clusters transform into heavy, drooping bunches of deep purple to nearly black berries.

Once harvested, the canes that produced fruit gradually die back over the year so that new canes can take their place and produce the next season’s crop. This cycle of renewal is what makes elderberries such a productive and sustainable shrub.

Elderberries are versatile in the kitchen, but the berries must be cooked before eating.

Raw elderberries, along with the leaves and stems, contain small amounts of naturally occurring compounds that can cause nausea or stomach upset if consumed. Cooking breaks down these compounds, making the berries safe and delicious to enjoy.

Dewayne said he has seen elderberries turned into syrup, jelly, tea and even wine.

Planting elderberries in your landscape will give you beautiful blooms to enjoy, they will attract pollinators and birds, and you will have a steady harvest of berries to use in the kitchen year after year.