I love a good low-maintenance-but-not-drab shrub, y'all. Ever since my husband picked out an elderberry to go with our smoke bush at my first home shortly after coming to America, I've tried to find a place of honor for one where it can grow like crazy! In my first backyard garden, it took over the corner. In our last place, I planted it facing our back alley to cover up a weird short fence situation. And here, it's on the North side of the house where an ugly arbor vitae used to stand, but still gets some decent sun at day's end, and has tripled in size to almost 6' - with several feet left to go!
The dark leaves and tiny pink blooms of the Black Beauty are such an awesome combination, and guess what? This is the variety you can also harvest berries from - just make sure and cook them up while adding sugar to reduce the tartness! (That being said? I never harvest them, as birds love them and some things are just nice to leave to the local wildlife, ya know?)
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