Crushed elder leaves are the smell of childhood, of climbing through their soft branches and picking the landing-pad flowers. Now, picking the flowers supplies us with champagne and other elegant delights such as gooseberry and elderflower jam. And don’t forget the berries, black beady eyes in the hedgerow.
If you’ve got a sunny, reasonably moist spot, go ahead and plant Sambucus nigra. Look out for the golden-leaved cultivar ‘Aurea’ or ‘Eva’, with finely cut black leaves. Cut the branches back hard in early spring for bold displays of fresh foliage.
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