Photo courtesy of Prides Corner Farms
Sambucus canadensis Wyldewood
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Wyldewood carries flower heads up to a foot across, the largest of the common elderberry varieties, and it blooms about two weeks later than the others. Sambucus canadensis Wyldewood grows 5 to 8 feet tall and wide in full sun to part sun, hardy from Zone 3 through Zone 9.
Those broad creamy flower clusters are worth picking in their own right for cordial and fritters. Dark purple berries follow in late summer in heavy yields.
The late bloom is useful in two ways: it extends the flower harvest, and it makes Wyldewood a good pollinating partner for the earlier varieties whose bloom windows it overlaps at the tail end.
The fruit must be cooked. Raw elderberries, along with the stems, leaves, and bark, contain compounds that cause nausea, and only the cooked ripe fruit and the flowers are safe to eat. Plant a second variety nearby for a full crop. Elderberry takes wet ground and poor soil without complaint, and deer leave it alone.
Height 5'- 8' Spread 5'- 8'
USDA Hardiness Zones 3-9
Lowest Temperatures -40°F to -30°F
Full sun to part sun- at least 4 hours direct sun per day
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