American Elderberry
$12.00 CAD
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
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
$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
$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
$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.
| Plant | Grown for | Growth and regional evidence | Fruit or foliage |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Elderberry | Naturalized hedge, wildlife and cooked fruit | Spreads by suckers and tolerates occasional wetness. | Small purple black berries in broad clusters. |
| Wyldewood Elderberry | Named selection for cooked fruit | No prairie trial that we know of. | Larger berries than Adams II in Missouri trials; no local yield promise. |
| York Elderberry | Named selection for cooked fruit | No prairie trial that we know of. | Large dark purple berries; Ontario harvest accounts describe late August. |
| Golden Elderberry | Ornamental 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.