tropit

Elderberries grow wild around my place, but I've always found them difficult to harvest and I feel that they should be left to the birds for food. So, a couple of years ago, I planted some black elderberry plants in my yard. They're about to flower now and I thought that I would use the flowers to make something...I don't know what. I've seen all kinds of recipes. Anybody out there use elderberry flowers? What do you make with them?

~ C

Stitchnripper

If you have an instant pot, there are a bunch of recipes. Here's oneinstant pot elderberry syrup wellness mama

charley26

Cordial, delicious as a refreshing drink.
https://www.rivercottage.net/recipes...flower-cordial

And fritters, of course!
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeands...rink.shopping2

Delicious.

tropit

Thanks Charley26. I'll look those up. My elderflowers are just starting to bud out.

~ C

broomstix

I use the berries not the flowers to make a great jam.

Darcyshannon

I am thinking of getting an elderflower plant. I like its taste and would prefer to make my own specialty drinks. Are they easy to grow?

charley26

Elderflowers are from an Elder tree, they grow in the 'wild', so not really a garden tree. They can grow to about 10 meters or so. There is a more garden friendly variety called Sambucus Nigra, this has black/purpelish leaves, and the flower is slightly darker than the elderflower used for the above recipes. The Sambucus Nigra is chopped down low each year to encourage the dark coloured leaves, as these are appreciated more for their floral/flower arrangement qualities.
I gather elderflowers as I go walking, when I see the blossom appearing, and low enough for me to pick. There are companies that make elderflower drinks commercially here in the UK, they tend to have a lot of elder trees locally, and equipment to reach the higher blossoms.

tropit

I bought mine here: https://onegreenworld.com/?s=elderberries . I like this company and have dealt with them many times. They have 2 pages of elderberry varieties to choose from. I don't remember which kind mine are. I'd have to go hike up the hill to read the tag and I'm too lazy to do that. They look exactly like the black elderberries that grow in our area.

My elderberries are doing great! I just give them water and a little bit of fertilizer each year. My zone is 8B, or 9A and I"m up in the mountains. Elderberries also grow wild here, so I'm not surprised that they're doing well in my garden. They look like small trees, about 7 feet high and are nice as an ornamental. This year I"m going to get a lot of fruit, if the birds don't beat me to it.

I have a lot of plants like that in our landscaping. They're pretty, but also produce fruit s/a aronia berries, pineapple guava, currants, olives, blueberries, goumi, sea berries, gooseberries, honey berries, pomegranates, autumn olive, etc. I'm always looking for more interesting and unusual edibles for my yard. We like the harvests and the birds are our eternal friends.

~ C