If it's anything like the Mexican elderberry I have, I'd say to plant
it where you can have a huge grove. It spreads by underground runners
and is relentless. If you just planted it, it needs to go through a
cycle of dormancy, then it will flower and set fruit in spring for
harvest.

I don't know about poisonous. The only reason I planted it was for
the berry eating birds, then they pooped out the seeds and with a huge
chain and my truck I yanked it out of the ground. I still get runners
but if I keep them cut off the plant will eventually die.

On 9 Sep 2006 13:40:04 -0700, "
wrote:

Hello gardeners,

You guys have consistently given me good advice. I'm asking for more
of the same. (Hey, I'd return the favor if I could. But you don't
want my gardening advice. Really. If all gardeners and farmers were
like me, the world would starve.)

I bought and planted an elderberry bush a few months ago. It's growing
great, spreading like a weed, but not fruiting.

QUESTION 1. I have never heard of a fruitless elderberry, and didn't
find that phrase on a web-search. So I'll assume that all elderberry
plants are supposed to bear fruit. What should I do, to encourage my
elderberry plant to fruit? It is all alone, so pollination might be an
issue -- except it has barely flowered this year! Maybe it takes a
year to get established?

QUESTION 2. Some people on this group say that elderberry is
poisonous. (But some stores sell elderberry jelly, etc.)
To quote Martin Tom Brown on this group from 1995:

there is a variety of elderberry in eastern canada that is very poisonous,
and a variety that is actually quite good for you. very few people seem to
know about them.

So my question is: How do I tell whether my elderberry bush is
poisonous, or beneficial, to humans?

THANK YOU FOR ALL REPLIES !!

Ted Shoemaker