Sambucus, Black Elder, Bourtree, Elderberry, European Elder 'Eva'

Just great for the first two years. Then 2 days ago, the top branches wilted. I pruned and saw t hat the stem was hollow and gushed black...Read More sludge. I kept pruning and every stem was the same. It's now a stump--I'll wait to see what happens.

Absolutely love mine! After the first year it really took off and bloomed all summer long.

My plant is getting very tall - can I prune back the leader and if so, before or after blooming? Thanks.

This shrub is one of my favorites and has often fooled visitors to my garden into thinking that it is a Japanese Maple. In zone 4, it is ...Read Morean excellent alternative to the Japanese Maple. It has tripled in size in three years. Wonderful lace-cap like flowers in spring, wonderful foliage that holds all summer long, and berries come fall.

Vancouver, Washington

I planted the black lace elderberry to train as an upright, multitrunk tree. The first year it grew...Read More from 1-1/2 feet to over 6' tall. The secton year it grew to over 10' tall, and this year it is over 15' tall. It is a beautiful tree/shrub when properly pruned, and has grown problem free against the house on the east-facing side in a raised bed. It has beautiful, prolific, whitish-pink flower clusters. Only problem is that it is not evergreen, and there is leaf debris to keep cleaned up.

Aesthetically speaking, this plant has it all: wonderful burgundy foliage, nice clear-pink flowers, refined texture, and manageable growt...Read Moreh habit. Concerns of practicality, I am not impressed with disease/insect-tolerance/resistance and lack of robustness.

Leaves emerge in spring and new flush of growth dies back. Culprit seems to be some sort of larva or grub taking up residence in the pith (likely cutting off all water an nutrient supply causing dieback). Also, St. Louis summer heat and humidity does not seem to treat this cultivar of elderberry well -- even though it's close cousins do just fine in neighboring woods (Sambucus canadensis). Leaves have rather acrid, pungent odor, smelling similar to boxwood.

Currently growing in a mulched border with great soil, ample moisture, and full sun. I suspect this plant is at the southern end of it's range and will perform much worse the further south one goes. Probably a better plant for more northern climes.

For similar color, I suggest Weigela 'Wine and Roses' or a Japanese maple.

Bought this plant at the end of the season and it was in rough shape. It over-wintered beautifully and has grown into a great plant--and ...Read Morethe white blooms against the dark foliage is stunning.

This is a gorgeous plant! I planted mine last spring 2009 in Northern Colorado. I bought a fairly large plant from my local nursery ($4...Read More0). It did really well and has such delicate leaves and I also got several beautiful clusters of pink flowers in its first year in my garden. I believe that is due to my purchasing a larger plant. I'm going to buy one for my daughter's garden this spring.

I purchased this very lovely shrub in 2007. Even though it was a zone 4 plant and I live in zone 3, I wanted to try it anyways as it is s...Read Moreo pretty. I planted it next to the foundation on the east side of my home and it grew nicely over the summer. In the fall I covered it with an old rug and a styro cone and it wintered very well. It had moderate growth summer of 2008 but only had a couple of flower heads. Due to a very busy fall last year, my shrub did not get covered at all. We had an extremely cold winter with more than a few days of -40 degrees. It did survive though! It did not have any new growth on any previous branches, but growth came from the roots and it grew to a 6 or 7 foot height. But it did not flower at all. Can anyone tell me how to get it to flower?

In spring of 2008 I bought two of these as replacements (sold locally as Black Lace) for horrible red Japanese barberries. These two eld...Read Moreers are of the same color family, but they have a much more pleasant disposition than barberries. I'm hopeful the birds are equally fond of the berries.

I also considered cutleaf red Japanese maples, and although the maples can offer me a truer red, they grow slower, and specimens the size of the plants I acquired easily cost six times as much and are not as cold tolerant.

The plants are planted in clay soil amended with processed sludge from the local sewage plant (My city gives it away for free, and it's FANTASTIC fertilizer, just not for plants you intend to eat) and top soil. They are planted along the front of an east-facing porch, and they are partially shaded by the roof, so they receive morning sun and less than average rainfall.

I pruned moderately last fall. Pruning is easy (and pain free, NASTY barberries!) In north Central Ohio they began shooting out in April and the shoots breezed through several frosts and freezes with no damage. The shoots are now fully developed and are sending out many large bloom heads.

Last year they were planted with several flower buds blooming. I noticed a faint lemon scent, not unpleasant. This year they are both covered with flower buds at the end of May. I'm looking forward to seeing if they happen to bloom at the same time as my snowflake philadelphus. :)

I note no apparent pests for this plant. It's just a nicely-colored, cut leaved, fast-growing, pruning friendly alternative to some of the other maroon colored plants that might be considered.

Hey, these plants are said to be hardy to zone 4. Minnesotans, Dakotans, folks from the great Canadian Prairies take heed, this might be a good plant for you to try!

This is the 2nd year for my 'Black Lace' and I'm amazed at how much better lookking it is from last year. Last year it stayed kind of sm...Read Moreall (maybe 3-4') and didn't bloom AT ALL. This year, It's growing (5-6') and has a bunch of beautiful light pink flowers. They're a gorgeous contrast to the black-purple clored leaves.

This is my favorite plant in my whole garden. My sister gave it to me last May as a 2-quart plant. We had a very dry, hot summer and the...Read More plant did nothing at all, so I neglected it (I sometimes get mad at my plants, I know, this is is nutty) and thought it might just die last winter. But what a surprise this spring--it exploded in growth, and it is 4 feet tall and growing. The flower "discs" are supernaturally beautiful. The dark purple leaves emerge lime green, and not one leaf has browned, wilted, or been eaten (yet). This would be also beautiful in groups or a line (for screening or a very loose hedge).

I like this plant more than I thought I would. It has a great character that is different from plant to plant. It does retain a black c...Read Moreolor here in our summers and grows quite fast. Its a trouble free beautiful plant I think its uses are endless for those looking for something different. I don't like norway maples for various reasons. I don't like red norways because the size of the plant size and leaf make it stand out too much and draw too much attention from everything else in a landscape. Black Lace is very versatile and offers something different in the landscape but does so conservatively. I dont doubt this plant will wind up in overuse at some point though because of its character and carefree culture. If you are deciding between this plant and Black Beauty, Black Beauty does not keep black foliage here throughout the summer in full sun. The leaves did appear small and really fine in the nursery on Black Lace but grew bigger in a landscape.

Bought on a whim because I liked its Japanese Maple Qualities (Fine Leaves). Does great and as expected in the Full Sun. In Part Shade th...Read Moree leaves get wider and rust a bit, but still a nice plant for dark foliage.

First year in our gardens and although it didn't bloom for us this year, the black foliage is gorgeous. Planted in full sun it has retain...Read Moreed its color throughout the heat and humidity of our summers, unlike S. 'Black Beauty' which always loses its black foliage by mid summer. Advertised as a "Plant for Passionate Gardeners" or as an alternative for northern gardeners where hardiness is questionable for Japanese Maples.

This plant may come under the alternative variety name (or clone name) of 'Eva' outside the UK.