Respecting my elders
Although I am sure that geranium ‘Rozanne’ was a worthy winner of the RHS ‘Plant of the Century’, and it is a great herbaceous plant, I no longer get that thrill when I see it. It does struggle a bit in my rather wet garden and I feel it always has the attitude of a sulky teenager in spring: ‘Ok I will grow and look like I am bothered if I really have to.’ Of course, by the time it should be tucked up in bed, by September and October it is partying away and crowded with blooms, but I have a long memory and it may well look at me as though butter wouldn’t melt in its mouth but I remember that it was sulky and made little effort in May!
If I had to chose a plant that was a more worthy contender I would choose sambucus ‘Black Lace’ (‘Eva’ or Black Lace (R) – take you pick). I have always been a fan of ornamental elders because they are tough and easy to grow. Many years ago I swooned over, and grew ‘Guincho Purple’ and ‘Thundercloud’ and then ‘Black Beauty’, all fabled to be darker than the rest, but they had a rather moody, sombre tone to their colour. Along came ‘Black Lace’ and that was a game changer. A really vigorous plant with delicately divided leaves and a good, rich, quite bright purple. And the flowers were pink. It was immediately a plant that could help me overcome my inability to grow Japanese maples. OK, it does not have the elegance and it can, very quickly, become a monster. But here was a plant that I had to control rather than worry over. In addition it is easy to propagate and the pink flowers make the most delightfully pink elderflower cordial. And then you have the berries.
I planted several here, all in the rough bank at the front of the garden. They are well drained but can be dry in summer. They are a lot happier than some others, selected berrying forms, planted in wetter soil. ‘Black Lace’ is like a puppy, eager to please. You can allow it to grow into a spreading tree or you can hard prune every year or so, which produces the best foliage, though you will lose the flowers, and the new stems can be colonised by blackfly, till the ladybirds mop them up.
But it is now coming into bloom and it will soon be cordial-making time. I was more than excited to see that a new dark elder, called ‘Cherry Lace’ is now available and had to get one, from Belgium. It has only ben in the ground three months and the flowers look amazingly similar. It is supposed to be brighter in leaf colour and much more compact, only reaching 1.2m. The snails are determined to keep it much smaller and are chewing off the new shoots at an alarming rate but I think it will eventually pull through and I will report on it later. But if it is more compact that will be a good thing for most gardens since ‘Black Lace’ is a robust shrub!
Which brings me to sambucus ‘Serenade’. This is a relatively new elder, I believe bred by Edmund Brown at Cotswold Garden Flowers (he has created some lovely elders that I would love to get hold of) and it is a hybrid of S. nigra and S. racemosa called Sambucus x strumpfii. ‘Serenade’ has foliage somewhere between the two, with coarse foliage, heavily toothed around the edge. Descriptions mention bright pink new growth and autumn colour and sweetly scented, pinkish flowers. I have to say that I would describe the foliage as yellow (ish) and tinted bronze. I had a sniff of the flowers and they are cream rather than pink and not amazingly scented. But this plant above was in a 1 litre pot last spring when planted at the top of the bank and is now 1.5m high and wide. I am grateful to see something so healthy and vigorous! The new, basal shoots, growing at the back, are brighter gold but already taller than all the weaker shoots growing on last year’s framework of branches. It is supposed to grow 2.5m high and 1.5m wide and I can see that happening very soon. If you have space to fill and want some bright but subtle colour in summer I think it would be a good bet.
The Biking Gardener 
We have one of the older varieties of elder here, planted quite a few years ago and we are now not certain of its name. It provides the flowers for the pink cordial and hosts a clematis to flower after its own display. I’m not sure I have room for another but they are great plants.
That is a great point about being a support for clematis – elders are tough enough to put up with some seasonal swamping. I know elders are not in the top rank of garden shrubs but, this year especially, it is wonderful to have some shrubs that I don’t need to fret about! As molluscs shear off anything herbaceous I think the next phase in the garden will be tough shrubs.
I had Sambucus ‘ Chocolate Marzipan’ in my previous garden. I was excited to find it. The flowers are supposed to smell like its name, but to me they just smell of elder. And it grows to a monstrous size. So back to ‘Black Lace’ which is my favourite elder.
That is so interesting, thank you. I think I will still buy a ‘Chocolate Marzipam’ if I find one but am duly warned! It is reassuring to know that you like ‘Black Lace’ too.
‘Black Lace’ happens to be one of the most ‘asked-about’ items within our landscapes. Someone purchased it years ago, but then left it here in the yard. I added it to a landscape just to make it go away, as I was none too keen on it. It grew very well, and then grew even better after getting cut back for winter. It is so popular that I grew cuttings to share with neighbors, and might make some available to any guest who inquires about it. I got it ‘Madonna’ as a pollinator, so now they can make berries. Some guests like seeing happy birds in the landscapes. The native blue elderberry that grows wild here is still my favorite for culinary applications because it is what I am familiar with. I make jelly that won second place (never third or first) at the Harvest Festival in Boulder Creek on several occasions. (There has been no competition for a few years, but the jelly wins whenever it is entered into competition.) I acquired red elderberry from Tangly Cottage Gardening, but got no berries from it yet. They are supposedly not as good, and more toxic if not cooked, but I will find out.
I too grow a few elders. I think my favourite is Black Lace, however initially I thought it didn’t like it where planted – eventually I discovered it was the deer loved it too! I gave up on having a fully clothed one and moved it where it is crown raised to above deer height where it’s quite nice. I used to have a golden cut leafed one which eventually died. I do have a cream edged full leaf one which gets so large I cut it down every year but am not crazy about and the deer damage it quite a bit. What I almost like the best is a plain green but very dainty cut leaved one often mistaken for an acer. Your welcome to cuttings if you’re passing by.
I am lucky that I dont have the deer problem. I must admit that I suspected that the rather smelly foliage might put deer off browsing but obviously not. I still have the fuchsias for you so will try to get to see you – I have hardly left the place in months and have so much weeding I wont be away for a week or so yet!
Thanks Geoff. Good to see you back though! Apologies for forgetting the name – but obviously you figured it out. Ditto re leaving the house! We have had a very dry spell here and watering is now on the agenda and what’s in flower is going over fast. The usual either too wet, too dry, too windy etc – that’s Ireland for you, especially these days. I look forward to seeing you any time.
ps. That Maderian umbellifer is popping up here and there but is much shorter than expected, not more than 3-4ft.
PPS There doesn’t seem to be a box for my name, or perhaps I’m missing it!
Yes it is dry here – well it was till this morning – it is now raining. The grand is still wet below the surface though. I am not sure why you appear as anonymous but I can guess it is you. That umbellifer only got to 1m high at Courtown but I think it was crowded. I a not sure it would survive here – I am thinking of planting astilbes everywhere!