Elderberries are touted for a variety of health benefits, mostly how they will boost the immune system and with all the flu varieties going around, who doesn’t want their immune system boosted.
I ordered bare root plants in February, 2018 and they arrived on February 24.
This is what they looked like on March 24 – exactly one month later.
I’m still amazed at how quickly they grew. By June, we had elderberries.
As they say, the rest is history. They’ve done so well and produced in 2018 and 2019. By 2019, the birds found them and I think they got more elderberries than I did. This year we’re going to put netting or something over them.
We’ve cut the elderberries back – really just trimmed up some of the ones that were getting a bit too bushy and cut back some of the older wood. That is also supposed to be good for rooting new trees so today I put some of the more woody cuttings in pots. That’s 10 cuttings. If all 10 survive, that will double my elderberry plants. I hope all 10 survive.
Some of the smaller cuttings, I put in zippered plastic bags, with spaghnum moss.
There are three bags, each with about 6 or 7 cuttings. If they root, I’ll give those to friends who have requested cuttings. Sharing the love . . or the elderberries! 🙂
vivoaks says
We have elderberries around here, but our birds have decimated our crops too. We only have one bush left in the hedgerow, but we never get berries anymore. I never tried the juice, because hubby will actually eat elderberry jelly, so that’s all they were ever used for. I haven’t made that in probably 30 years…. (Hubby eats only apple or elderberry jelly – he doesn’t like any other fruits.)
Cilla says
What company did you order them from?
Judy Laquidara says
Most of the ones I ordered were from Stark Brothers.
Nelle Coursey says
If you have any left I would love one! Where did you get your elderberry before you got the bushes? I have been thinking of trying them but all I saw at CVS was either liquid or gummies.
Judy Laquidara says
You can buy dried elderberries from Mountain Rose Herbs but they’re hard to get this time of year. Other place have them too. I’ve mostly ordered from Mountain Rose Herbs and have been able to get them from friends from time to time.
Susan Nixon says
I have no luck with berries of any kind. One of the six black raspberries I bought the first year I was in this house still makes berries, and they are just so-so. The birds mostly get them. I get a handful every year … if there are any at all. But these look different than the plants I have, so I could try them. That was fast service, I remember. Are you making juice from them?
Judy Laquidara says
I make the elderberry syrup for boosting our immune systems.