American Elderberry

Growing American Elderberry

Fast and vigorous in moist soil, so give it room or cut it back hard each winter. Cook the ripe berries for syrup; never eat them raw.

Where it belongs

American elderberry is native across the East, Midwest, Plains, and Texas, growing in moist ground: ditches, stream banks, wet field edges, and roadside low spots. It is one of the most recognizable summer roadside plants in the eastern half of the country.

It is grown both as habitat and as a fruit crop, and the two uses are compatible. A pair of shrubs produces more fruit than most households use and still leaves plenty for birds.

Growing it

Full sun to part sun, medium to wet soil, in loam or clay, zones 3 to 9. Six to twelve feet tall and as wide.

It grows fast, which is the practical argument for it. A new plant can be a substantial shrub in two or three seasons, so it fills a screening gap faster than almost any other native.

That speed comes with a habit that many find coarse. Stems are soft-wooded, arch heavily under fruit, and often die back partway. The management is to cut the whole plant back hard every few winters, or to remove the oldest canes annually. It flowers on both new and second-year wood, so hard renewal costs one season of fruit.

It suckers and spreads into a thicket in moist ground.

For fruit, plant two different named varieties for cross-pollination.

What it feeds

The flower heads are broad flat clusters of tiny creamy flowers, up to ten inches across, opening in June and July. Their shape puts nectar within reach of small bees, flower flies, beetles, and wasps, and they are heavily worked.

The fruit ripens purple-black in August and is one of the most valuable bird foods in the eastern flora. More than fifty bird species are documented eating it, and the timing coincides with the start of fall migration.

The thicket structure is nesting habitat, and it hosts a number of moths.

Living with it

Deer browse it.

An important caution about eating it. Ripe cooked berries are used for syrup, jelly, and wine and are widely consumed. Raw berries, and all the green parts of the plant including leaves, stems, and unripe fruit, contain cyanogenic compounds and cause nausea and vomiting. Cook the ripe fruit, strain out the stems, and do not eat any part of it raw.

There is also a lookalike risk. Water hemlock and poison hemlock are lethally toxic and superficially resemble elderberry to an inexperienced eye. Learn the shrub's woody stems and opposite compound leaves before harvesting anything.

Sources: USDA PLANTS Database (native range and nomenclature); Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, University of Texas at Austin (species profile); University of Missouri Extension (elderberry production and cultivar pollination); National Capital Poison Center (raw elderberry and plant part toxicity).

It’s easy to grow, fast-growing, and fragrant.

Where it grows

American Elderberry is native to the Northeast. In the wild you’ll find it across Alabama · Arkansas · Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware · Florida · Georgia · Illinois · Indiana · Iowa and 32 more states. Always confirm it suits your specific county with your state native plant society before planting.

Regional Garden has written state guides covering American Elderberry in 42 of them so far.

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