Found Some Elderberry

[KJS-ND]

I always thought Elderberry sounded like a great shrub to get growing and over the last 3 years I've planted probably 50 plants - along w/ tubing, spraying, watering and all the stuff that goes along w/ trying to get stuff growing in sod (tough). Seems like having pretty good luck - they seem to grow well and start sending up shoots pretty quickly - none have had any flowers yet.

Yesterday I went out to the farm to check things over - haven't been there for a month as we've been getting really nice rains - wandering around checking out some areas and - what the heck - that looks like a wild elderberry plant - sweet - walk a little farther and - holy smokes - there is a whole area thick w/ them. I was super stoked to make this discovery.

This is an old pasture - the fence was so bad I decided to not rent it out for cattle - probably the last 5 years or so - I don't know if I never noticed the wild elderberry before or if it just took that long for them to get higher than the grass and put out some flowers.

Question - can I just pick the berries this fall and scatter them around or do they need to be run through a bird to make them viable? These are all in a boggy area - growing next to some cattails - I've been planting them in a little drier soils before - next spring I'll just order some from conservation nursery and stick them next to some other sloughs - probably only have to spray them the first year and won't even bother with tubes anymore.

 

[homerj]

You sure that's elderberry?

 

[KJS-ND]

Not 100% sure - no

 

[homerj]

I can't tell from the pic, but the blossoms look more rounded than elderberry to me.

 

[j-bird]

If your talking about the white flowers in the pic.....I don't think its elderberry. I don't see anything in the pic that is painfully obvious that appears to be elderberry. I have lots of it at my place. You may have some hiding down in the grass but like I said nothing that jump jumps out at me from what I see.

If your fighting sod......I would kill the sod and then use a weed barrier and a cage for your elderberry plantings - the shrubs will eventually get big enough they won't need protection, but until then....they tend to be a great browse plant for deer. I have some on my place that are 10+ feet tall. I need to cut them back to get them back to a level where they do some good.

When elderberry flower they are not on long shoots like you see in your picture. They flower very close to the shrub itself if that makes any sense. The white flowers in your pic look more like wild carrot or the like to me.

 

[H20fwler]

That may be queen anne's lace your looking at.

I've planted a bunch of elderberry in my shrub strips in the last two years also and am putting more in next spring, it's a very beneficial plant for wildlife. Mine aren't big enough to fruit yet either, hope yours does well for you.

 

[cavey]

That may be queen anne's lace your looking at.

I would second H20fwler on the Queen Annes Lace call... We have it all over up here.

the plant looks more weedy than what elderberry shrubs would look like...

 

[TreeDaddy]

Looks more like a species of Viburnum

bill

 

[KJS-ND]

Dang - you are probably correct- wish I had taken a few more close up pics - will have to do that next time I’m out that way - was hoping got lucky