Schwarzer Holunder Sambucus nigra

created by Sarah B. at 10.03.2021

Seed packet

Season Overview

Sowing

Harvest

1ST YEAR

FOLLOWING YEARS

Description

It captivates with its strong dark red foliage, which every year in June is covered with lush many white-pink flower umbels that smell of lemon! From August begins the harvest of berries! The flowers can be used as tea or flavoring, the fruits for jam, wine, teas, liqueurs or syrup. Forms beautiful bushes in the garden. (Sambucus nigra) Details Life span: perennial Habitat: sun to partial shade Hardy: yes Flowering time: summer Maturity: harvest autumn Height of growth: 200 to 300cm Care requirements: low Water requirement: low to medium Planting distance: 100 cm Botanical name: Sambucus nigra Elderberry Elderberry, also called lilac berry or elder bush, is a wild fruit genus with high value for nature conservation. We present the most important species. Origin Elderberry (Sambucus), also called lilac berry or elder bush, belongs to the muskweed family (Adoxaceae). There are a total of about 10 species worldwide, distributed on all continents. They grow in temperate and subtropical regions as well as in the cooler mountainous regions of the tropics. In Germany, the black and red elderberries (Sambucus nigra and Sambucus racemosa) and the perennial to semi-shrubby dwarf elderberry (Sambucus ebulus) are native. Black elderberry prefers to grow in fresh to moderately moist nitrogen- and humus-rich soils. Natural habitats are semi-shaded forest edges and clearings primarily in lowlands, while red elder dominates on similar sites at higher elevations. Elder has been an important cultivated and medicinal plant since ancient times. Not only the berries are used, but also the nectar-rich flowers can be processed into elderflower syrup or sparkling wine. As tea they are administered against fever and colds. The fruit juice is a real vital drink: it contains vitamins A, B and C and a lot of potassium. The red pigments of the fruits, so-called anthocyanins, are also extremely effective radical scavengers. Flutes were already made from the branches of the plant in pre-Christian times, as the unusually large medullary canal in the center of the shoots can be easily hollowed out. Elder was also said to have magical powers: it was supposed to protect the house from calamities such as lightning. That is why even today you can often find an old elder bush on historic farmhouses. Ausen appearance and growth The shrubs grow upright and form a weakly branched crown that becomes increasingly broader and slightly overhanging with age. The black elderberry grows up to six meters high, the red remains much smaller at four meters. The opposite leaves are pinnate, have five to eleven leaflets with serrated margins, and do not bear autumn color. Like the bark, they emit an unpleasant pungent odor when rubbed. The small creamy white flowers are in large umbrella panicles at the ends of short side shoots. In the course of the summer, small black and very juicy drupes develop from them, the so-called elderberries. They contain the weak poison sambucin, which can cause digestive problems if larger quantities of the raw fruit are eaten. When heated, it decomposes without residue. The fruits of the red elderberry are, as the name suggests, red in color. They are more poisonous raw than those of the black elderberry, but after cooking they can be easily made into jam. The berries of the black and red elderberry are slightly poisonous when raw Use Elderberry has a very high ecological value as a bee and bird feeder. There are also several butterfly species whose caterpillars live exclusively on elderberry foliage. Therefore, the shrubs belong to the "mandatory inventory" for gardens designed close to nature. They are quite competitive and shade tolerant, so they can be integrated very well into free-growing visual and bird hedges. In old farm and apothecary gardens, the plants are often seen as specimen shrubs - and are surprised at how picturesquely the crowns develop when the shrubs are given a box seat. Dark-leaved varieties with pink flowers, such as 'Black Lace', are particularly impressive. As a so-called pioneer shrub for windbreaks, hedges or other reforestation measures in the open landscape, elderberry is also very popular because it is extremely undemanding and grows on almost any soil. In addition, special fruit varieties of the black elderberry such as 'Haschberg' or 'Sampo' are also cultivated in orchards for juice production. Pruning Elderberry is extremely pruning tolerant and will tolerate heavy regeneration pruning well into the old wood. If kept as an ornamental plant, however, regular pruning is not necessary. In orchards, elderberries are grown as high stems and their harvested fruit shoots are pruned back to short cones annually after harvest. Of the new long shoots, only the strongest ten to twelve are left as fruit shoots for the coming year. Propagation The propagation of elderberry is simple: In autumn, after the leaves have fallen, an unrooted shoot is put into the ground as a so-called cuttings. In sufficiently moist, humus-rich soil, it forms roots until the next season and then sprouts again. Diseases and pests As a native woody plant, elderberries have quite a few enemies, especially from the world of insects. However, they are extremely regenerative and are not harmed by any so much that you need to worry about

F1 Hybrid

Frostproof