Recommendations for Elderberry / elderflower variety?

[Right Shed Fred]

Everyone seems to just harvest elderflowers and berries from the wild….
I would like to plant one or two in the garden - can anyone recommend one for the someone who wants to use the flowers and berries (i.e not just for ‘show’)

I’ve seen the ‘black lace’ purple variety, but is that a nice one or a bit of a gimmick?

thanks in advance!
(and yes, I am looking for good wild ones but have so far only found ones that smell yuk)

[ameno]

The red varieties all flower and set fruit as normal. The flowers will give you pink cordial and champagne.

I'm pretty sure all varieties flower and set fruit as normal, actually. The issue is that that flower only on old growth and are very vigorous, which means you usually need to let the tree grow to a decent size before it will flower. When you grow ornamental ones for the leaves you usually heavy prune it each year, but if you do that it will never flower.

(and yes, I am looking for good wild ones but have so far only found ones that smell yuk)

That's a timing thing. You need to get the flowers as soon as they open. Once they've been open a day or two they start to smell sort of musty, some people liken the smell to urine.
Also, the green stems and leaves all exude a foul odour if you crush them, so be sure not to do that.

[greenishfing]

Personally I cannot think of a good reason to grow them. The flowers have a disgusting smell. I used to make elderberry wine which was rather nice but I still dug out the elderberry bush on my allotment. There are plenty fruits to pick in the wild.

[burnie]

There are quite a few different varieties, as has been said, you need to be on the ball timing wise to collect the flowers for making cordial or wine, I have made wine from the berries, but Elderberry bushes are actually quite rare in these parts and I haven't tried the flowers. A friend many years ago used the hedgerow bushes for his wines and they were superb, Elderflower wine made with a Champagne type yeast is very nice.

[Nicos]

We have black lace and it’s lovely.
It’s just coming into flower- a pretty deep pink against the deep purple leaves , and it makes a lovely flavoured pink elderflower champagne.
Never done anything with the berries though.
It does need cutting back each year to keep it manageable if you don’t have a large growing space.

[Nicos]

Gf….wow!….I absolutely love the smell!

[mothhawk]

I love the smell of the flowers but hate the smell of the wood/leaves. we used to pick elder leaves and slip under the horses browbands to keep flies away when we were out riding - the flies don't like the smell either

i picked wild elder flowers from the hedgerows today to make cordial. I'm experimenting trying it with honey instead of sugar. ATM I've put it aside to steep overnight.

I certainly would never grow it in the garden when there's so much wild. There are so many other lovely garden shrubs.

[ameno]

i picked wild elder flowers from the hedgerows today to make cordial. I'm experimenting trying it with honey instead of sugar. ATM I've put it aside to steep overnight.

Wouldn't that limit how long it keeps?
I make the cordial with sugar and citric acid, and then use 1/6 of a campden tablet per 500ml bottle when sealing them, and last year's bottles are still perfectly good now (well, I say "good". They haven't gone bad. Last year's was rather a duff batch, though, as for some reason the elderflowers didn't really taste of anything. That's why a lot of it hasn't been drunk.)

[Right Shed Fred]

This is all very interesting.
I was out in the woods today and smelt all the elderflowers and whilst most smelt yuk, those which had a few still closed flowers smelt lovely - the timing is perhaps where I was going wrong? It is an amazing range from heavenly to yuk on one bush. Bizarre.

Lovely to know that Nicos has a black lace elderflower -and uses it successfully perhaps I will indeed get one of those.

[Containergardener]

I have the dark ones and native one. Agree about leaf/wood smell. Stinks not the best.

[mothhawk]

Wouldn't that limit how long it keeps?
I make the cordial with sugar and citric acid, and then use 1/6 of a campden tablet per 500ml bottle when sealing them, and last year's bottles are still perfectly good now (well, I say "good". They haven't gone bad. Last year's was rather a duff batch, though, as for some reason the elderflowers didn't really taste of anything. That's why a lot of it hasn't been drunk.)

My elderflower cordial seldom lasts more than a couple of months, it's a summer drink, not intended for keeping a year or more. So I don't bottle it. Half will stay in a jug in the fridge ready for use now, the remainder is frozen in ice cube trays so I can take out a handful of cubes to make a jugful any time.

[Nicos]

I found this piece of advice about when to pick….

”The best time of day to pick them is in the morning, when the flowers are at their sweetest smelling

Avoid picking later in the day, as their aroma can fade or become unpleasant (like cat wee, apparently!).

Choose fresh looking blossoms with fully open flowers that have not started to drop or turn brown”

from…
https://veganonboard.com/picking-elderflowers/
.

[ameno]

I usually pick mine in the afternoon and they're still fine.
The main point to pay attention to is to pick heads which still have a few unopened buds on them (5-10%, I'd say), and to give each head a sniff before you pick it.

[mothhawk]

Well, the cordial turned out well using honey instead of sugar, except I completely forgot that honey doesn't freeze, so the test cordial in the freezer is still liquid. So no frozen cubes, I'll have to put it in a bottle in the freezer. i wonder how long it will keep?

[ameno]

Well, the cordial turned out well using honey instead of sugar, except I completely forgot that honey doesn't freeze, so the test cordial in the freezer is still liquid. So no frozen cubes, I'll have to put it in a bottle in the freezer. i wonder how long it will keep?

Honey not freezing isn't some special property. It's just the sugar content. Sugar is an antifreeze.
And as long as you have a standard 4 star freezer then it should keep indefinitely in a sealed bottle, even if it's not frozen. It's not being frozen which preserves things in the freezer, it is being at -20.