American elderberry or a named selection?

Compare a spreading species shrub, two named fruit selections and an ornamental grown for golden foliage.

Choose this if

American Elderberry at Oak Summit Nursery, fall 2026

Plantas del vivero

Saúco americano

Plantín de cepellón grande

$12.00 CAD

A spreading shrub for wildlife cover or a naturalized hedge where it has room to form a thicket. Fully ripe berries are used cooked in preserves, baking and juice.

Wyldewood Elderberry at Oak Summit Nursery, fall 2026

Plantas del vivero

Saúco Wyldewood

Maceta de 4 pulgadas

$19.00 CAD

A named American elderberry found in Oklahoma in 1995 and released in 2010. Missouri trials reported larger berries than Adams II and later flowering than York.

York Elderberry at Oak Summit Nursery, fall 2026

Plantas del vivero

Saúco York

Maceta de 4 pulgadas

$19.00 CAD

A named selection with large dark purple berries and vigorous, upright growth. It was released at Geneva, New York, in 1964.

Golden Elderberry at Oak Summit Nursery, fall 2026

Plantas del vivero

Saúco dorado

Maceta de 4 pulgadas

$19.00 CAD

Golden foliage for an ornamental planting. The exact species and cultivar of this nursery stock have not been confirmed.

A dash means our sources did not give that detail.

PlantGrown forGrowth and regional evidenceFruit or foliage
American ElderberryNaturalized hedge, wildlife and cooked fruitSpreads by suckers and tolerates occasional wetness.Small purple black berries in broad clusters.
Wyldewood ElderberryNamed selection for cooked fruitNo prairie trial that we know of.Larger berries than Adams II in Missouri trials; no local yield promise.
York ElderberryNamed selection for cooked fruitNo prairie trial that we know of.Large dark purple berries; Ontario harvest accounts describe late August.
Golden ElderberryOrnamental foliage—Not offered as a named fruiting selection.

What we know and do not know

Wyldewood flowered about two weeks after York in Missouri trials. Those trial timings and Ontario harvest accounts do not give a Manitoba harvest date or yield promise. No prairie trial of the named selections was found in the sources reviewed. Pollination advice for this exact nursery stock has not been qualified. Golden Elderberry is ornamental while its identity remains unresolved.

Use only fully ripe berries cooked, with stems removed. Unripe berries, leaves and stems are not edible.