Comments on: How to Grow Elderberry

By: Linda

Linda — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 20:32:28 +0000

I have a tiny plant in a pot .. going to watch video on how/when/where to plant…it might be late in the season and I hope I can tend the plant til spring….I’ll do my best by my little plant.. Thanks for awesome article on all things elderberry….Linda

By: Kami McBride

Kami McBride — Tue, 10 Nov 2020 00:39:13 +0000

In reply to Mary Schneckenburger. Thanks for the resource Mary!

By: Mary Schneckenburger

Mary Schneckenburger — Tue, 10 Nov 2020 00:11:38 +0000

For herb fans on the east coast and especially in New England, FEDCO Seeds is a cooperative selling seeds, plants, bulbs, trees and tubers. I have been buying from them for 35 years. They are a good company, so in case you want to buy local, you can find them at Fedcoseeds.com

By: Betty Queen

Betty Queen — Sun, 22 Mar 2020 02:49:21 +0000

Moved to the Ozarks in 1999. Realized elderberry was growing on a neighbors fence line. Was given permission to pick them and have been making an elderberry tonic for family and friends ever since. Moved to drying the berries and packaging them with ginger, cloves, cinnamon to make a quart with each bag. Have started, with the help of volunteers from berries I dropped while stripping, seven elderberry patches on my rural property. I now take a small dose of elderberry each day for my arthritis. My husband was bus driver for an elementary school for three years and he was the only driver that did not get a cold or flu while he was taking the elderberry tonic I made.

By: agnes

agnes — Tue, 22 Oct 2019 14:05:43 +0000

Great information, thank you. About two years ago I planted a young elderberry bush in the garden. It grew very well but it only ever once had one flower, nothing since. I must find out what I am doing wrong. I’m Belgian and as kids we used to get a spoon of elderberry syrup once a day during colds and flu seasons in winter. I swear by the benefits of it.

By: Kami McBride

Kami McBride — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 15:48:56 +0000

In reply to Rene L. Hinds. No, you don't want to harvest near roads.

By: Sarah Wood

Sarah Wood — Sun, 13 Oct 2019 06:01:45 +0000

Wildcrafting Sambucus Mexicana in Oregon’s Coastal Range, and I was gifted two Elderberry Plants of forgotten species… I’m looking forward to when they set fruit so that I may better identify them!

By: Rachel

Rachel — Wed, 18 Sep 2019 15:42:25 +0000

I have two elderberry bushes that I have been waiting to plant in my backyard. I am going to listen to your tips and hope that I have success with growing them. Thank you for sharing this resource!

By: Rene L. Hinds

Rene L. Hinds — Tue, 17 Sep 2019 21:52:29 +0000

Hi Kami,
We planted several elderberry bushes in our back yard 4 years ago now. I have not been able to harvest anything but flowers, as we have so many deer that eat both the flowers and the fruits. Insect damage to the fruits is also a big problem, and birds will eat the fruits also. I live in Northeast GA and Sambucus canadensis is native here and grows wild, usually along the side of the road. Not sure about harvesting it there! I have pretty much come to the conclusion that it might be better just to harvest and dry the flowers, as these also are useful in teas to combat flu and colds. I have had good success purchasing the dried berries from Vitacost (Frontier Herbs) or Mountain Rose Herbs.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 19:08:30 +0000

Hi Kami, I look forward to hearing your experiences growing Elderberry. One of my favorites! I’ve got one European Elderberry plant growing, I think this is it’s third year. Last year it gave me a small amount of berries which I dried as I like to add them to my herbal tea blends. This year I had some to dry plus this weekend made Elderberry syrup (based on Rosemary Gladstar’s recipe) which yielded eight 8 ounce jars which I canned, and another pint which is in the fridge to use up on the next few month. It’s a beautiful plant and easy to grow. I squished it in between 2 other trees because of space limitations, so will have to prune some of the lower cherry tree limbs, but so far the Elderberry is happy and growing well.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Sat, 19 Jan 2019 18:14:53 +0000

Growing elderberry. Central Texas. First year plants. It’s kind of winter here and they lost their leaves just put on new leaves, still in 5 gallon buckets. We put them by our drain from the kitchen so they would get plenty of water. We got our plants, lol sticks, from the Mother Earth New fair last February, So we haven’t picked or made anything with the fruit. We will see how they produce this year. I did take some cuttings from them to plant more as they grow. The challenge will be, if I can keep them happy with water during our hot months. ?

By: Vicki

Vicki — Wed, 16 Jan 2019 20:44:51 +0000

Thanks so much, Kami, for your generosity in providing this info… & I LOVE this quote: “I envision pharmacy gardens on every block…” Yes!!