Sambucus nigra Black Lace - Black Elder

The elderberry or Sambucus nigra Black Lace (Eva) is undoubtedly our favourite with its finely cut foliage in the manner of Japanese maples that retains its dark purple colour throughout the season. It is adorned in early summer with delicate pale pink umbels that fade to creamy white, beautifully highlighted by its dark foliage. They give way to red and then black berries that are a delight for birds. Very accommodating in terms of soil, and perfectly hardy, this shrub is comfortable in most gardens. It looks superb when placed alone or in a free-standing hedge.

Black Lace elderberry, produced in Great Britain in 2002, is a plant belonging to the Caprifoliaceae family, along with honeysuckles. It comes from Sambucus nigra, a wild species widespread in Europe, North Africa, and as far afield as Asia Minor. Black Elder is an opportunistic and highly adaptable species, found widely in clearings, hedges, fallow lands, coastal dunes, or near human settlements where it has coexisted for millennia. It is therefore undemanding and very easy to grow everywhere. It tolerates clay-limestone soils perfectly; even relatively dry ones if they are deep.

The 'Black Lace' form has a bushy and spreading habit, reaching about 2.5 m (8 ft) in height and 3 m (10 ft) in width, with a moderately fast growth rate depending on the growing conditions. Its woody branches are verrucate, greyish in colour, and filled with white pith. From spring to autumn, it bears particularly elegant foliage; its leaves are finely cut into many very thin, laciniate leaflets, of a very dark purple colour. Flowering usually occurs in June (a little earlier or later depending on the climate), in the form of very long-lasting false umbels, 10 to 12 cm (3.9 to 4.7 in) wide. The small, fragrant, 5-petalled flowers are a soft, old pink colour and are carried on red petioles. Over time, they lighten almost to white, creating a very pretty gradation on the bush. This flowering attracts many pollinating insects. The fruits, edible and tasty, are black to purplish berries with soft flesh, measuring 6 to 8 mm (0.2 to 0.3 in) in diameter.

Black Lace elderberry is an excellent free-standing hedge plant that is also worth planting alone, at the front of a large shrub border. Like all elderberries, it is very hardy and easy to combine with other spring- or summer-flowering shrubs, or as a backdrop for large perennials (Gunneras, Ligularia, large ferns in moist soil) or along a path. You can also keep it in a large pot or container for 3 or 4 years. It can be combined, for example, with lilacs, mock oranges, flowering apple trees, Prunus, landscape roses or wild roses (burnet, hugonis, moyesii, rugosa, rubrifolia), viburnums, Weigela florida 'Variegata', and many other shrubs.

In the kitchen: the flowers can be prepared in fritters or syrup by macerating them in sugar. The vinegar-pickled buds are used to enhance salads, and the berries are consumed as juice, jelly or jam, or in wine. They give a pleasant perfume to apple cakes. Only the flowers and berries without their petioles are edible as the rest of the plant can be toxic.

In the garden:

Elder leaves are known to accelerate compost decomposition. Black elder leaf infusion is useful in organic gardening to fight against mildew and aphid attacks, or rodents: macerate 1 kg of leaves for a few days in 10 L of water, and spray as needed. It can also be planted in an orchard, where it attracts insect-eating birds.