TheMondayGarden.com

TheMondayGarden.com, Eco-gardening at its best

February 5, Issue 192

Good things can't stay forgotten forever and that's certainly true of our native American elderberry (Sambucus Canadensis or Sambucus nigra spp. canadensis ) and its Western cousins, the blue elderberry and red elderberry. The Native Americans knew that elderberry had a wealth of uses; the European and Asian settlers recognized it as a close kin of their treasured native elderberries.

PICTURE: American elderberry along the Red Maple Wetlands walkway at the Bartlett Arboretum, Stamford, CT, June, 2005. There's an alder to the left. In the original of this picture, high above, you can just make out two circling hawks.

Somehow in the 1900's, elderberries waned in popularity, along with home-made lace and other things Victorian, but now in the 2000's, we are rediscovering the shrub's many virtues. Today, elderberry products can be found in one form or another in most health food stores. The plant is easy to grow without supplement water or chemicals, and the flavorful berries are an excellent source of vitamin C and antioxidants.