Sambucus nigra "Black Elderberry"

[hiddeneye]

Has anyone got any experience with sambucus (elderberry) as a bonsai? There was a nice little specimen at the portland nursery, just right for shohin... and i'm always interested to hear what adventures other folks have had.

Comments

[greenshadows]

I've got a couple of the dark-leaved Sambucus nigra cultivars - 'Guincho' and 'Black Beauty' - in training as pre-bonsai, each for about two years now. So far I'm seeing they take to container culture pretty well and I'm hoping they get rough trunks soon, like their earthbound counterparts. This is just an experiment, though...I haven't really heard of bonsaied elderberries before. Best of luck to both of us! :)

[hiddeneye]

the plant is labelled as a witch's broom, and expected to remain 8-12 inches. should be interesting... it still has very fresh-looking foliage on it!

[rabbit__]

Elderberry is very, very common to my home town in LA. The plants range up to 20 feet tall and we make elderberry jelly every year (least we did when I still lived there); they wither back in the winter but don't perish. It is virtually impossible to kill off and very hardy (though it can be done). If you guys have any specific questions about it feel free to ask me.