Sambucus nigra Guincho Purple - Black Elder

The black elderberry or Sambucus nigra 'Guincho Purple' is also known as 'Purpurea'. Its beautiful, elongated and dissected foliage changes colour throughout the seasons. Green to green-bronze in spring turns dark purple in summer and redder in autumn. It is a large bush or a small bushy tree adorned with a pinkish-white flowering in early summer and berries that turn red to black in late summer. This bush is comfortable in most gardens, adaptable to the soil, and perfectly hardy. It looks stunning when placed alone or in a free hedge.

The Sambucus nigra is a plant belonging to the Caprifoliaceae family, just like honeysuckles. It is a wild species widespread in Europe, North Africa, and Asia Minor. The black elderberry is an opportunistic and highly adaptable species found almost everywhere in France in clearings, hedges, fallow lands, coastal dunes, or near human settlements where it has coexisted for millennia. It is, therefore, a low-demanding bush and truly easy to grow everywhere. It tolerates clay-limestone soils perfectly, even if they are relatively dry, as long as they are deep.

The 'Guincho Purple' form was discovered in Scotland in 1957 and cultivated at Guincho Garden in Northern Ireland. The bush has an upright habit and can reach up to 6m (20ft) in height and width. Its woody branches are verrucate, greyish, and filled with white pith. From spring to autumn, it bears elegant foliage: its leaves are divided into elongated leaflets with dentate edges, slightly glossy on the upper side. They are green-brown to bronze in spring, turning dark purple in summer and red in autumn. The flowering usually occurs in June (a little earlier or later, depending on the climate) as long-lasting false umbels 10 to 12 cm (4 to 5in) wide. The small flowers are white-pink fragrant, with five petals. Over a few days, they lighten almost to white, creating a stunning range of shades on the bush. This flowering attracts many pollinating insects. The edible and tasty fruits are black to violet berries with soft flesh, measuring 6 to 8 mm (1in) in diameter. The foliage is absent in winter.

The 'Guincho Purple' elderberry makes a beautiful specimen when placed alone, and it is also an excellent bush for large free hedges. Plant it at the back of a shrub bed. Its purple leaves appreciate a sunny exposure. Like all elderberries, it is very hardy and easy to combine with other shrubs that bloom in spring or summer. Pair it with pink blossoms like Lilacs, ornamental Apple trees, Prunus, and Viburnum. It can create a backdrop for very tall perennials such as Gunneras, Ligularias, or giant ferns in moist soil.

In the kitchen, the flowers can be prepared as fritters or syrup by soaking them in sugar. The vinegar-pickled buds enhance salads, and the berries are consumed as juice, jellies, jams, or wine. They pleasantly flavour apple cakes. Only the flowers and berries without petioles are edible, as the rest of the plant can be toxic.

In the garden, elderberry leaves are known to accelerate compost decomposition. The black elderberry leaf infusion is useful in organic gardening to fight against mildew and attacks from aphids or rodents: soak 1 kg of leaves in 10 L of water for a few days, then spray as needed. It can also be planted in an orchard, attracting insect-predatory birds.