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

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

If only the regressives chanted this instead, "The power of Google compels
you!"

A good starting point.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elderberry

Plenty of reputable sites found with on Google.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=elderberry



wrote in message
oups.com...
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

I've been here for much longer than you and I think it's nice to give
an answer now and then. I am not regressive, but you may be a snob.

On Sun, 10 Sep 2006 01:19:03 GMT, "Snooze" wrote:

If only the regressives chanted this instead, "The power of Google compels
you!"

A good starting point.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elderberry

Plenty of reputable sites found with on Google.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=elderberry



wrote in message
roups.com...
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

Snooze wrote:
If only the regressives chanted this instead, "The power of Google compels
you!"

Yes. I have often made use of google, babelfish, wikipedia, about.com,
mapquest, amazon.com, online dictionaries, and plenty of other web
tools.

However, part of the human experience is to interact with other humans.
Because of that motivation, I *enjoy* giving and receiving advice and
information. On this group, I do a lot of receiving, because what I
have to offer gardeners is worthless. In other forums, I try to
contribute.

In any event, if it bothers you to send advice, then don't. Just hit
DELETE.

Ted Shoemaker

In article . com,
" wrote:

Snooze wrote:
If only the regressives chanted this instead, "The power of Google compels
you!"

Yes. I have often made use of google, babelfish, wikipedia, about.com,
mapquest, amazon.com, online dictionaries, and plenty of other web
tools.

However, part of the human experience is to interact with other humans.
Because of that motivation, I *enjoy* giving and receiving advice and
information. On this group, I do a lot of receiving, because what I
have to offer gardeners is worthless. In other forums, I try to
contribute.

In any event, if it bothers you to send advice, then don't. Just hit
DELETE.

Ted Shoemaker

Hi ted!

I like interaction with people as they can lead one down avenues not
thought of.

Bill

--
S Jersey USA Zone 5 Shade
This article is posted under fair use rules in accordance with
Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, and is strictly for the educational
and informative purposes. This material is distributed without profit.

wrote in message
oups.com...
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?

Avoid elderberries species with red fruit growing in rounded, instead of
flat clusters. They may make you sick. Hercules' club is a shrub or small
tree with feather-compound leaves that looks a little like the common
elderberry. It has flat clusters of poisonous, black berries, often arranged
in a ring, and a short, unbranched, thorny trunk. Elderberries are
thornless.

My grandmother had an elderberry tree (more like a clump of trees) in her
backyard and I don't remember any suckering. She called it a Mai (Danish for
the month of May) Tree. When it bloomed she always picked some of the
blossom clusters to brew tea. She swore if you had a cup of Mai tree blossom
tea every day for a week when it first started blooming you would stay
healthy. She lived to 98, who knows, she may have been on to something.

When I lived in Montana I picked elderberries every year to make jelly and
syrup, my neighbor made wine. All quite tasty.

Where did you get your elderberry bush? You say you bought it, can't you ask
somebody where you bought it? Did it have a tag with a proper Latin name
(not always an accurate source). If you want to be absolutely safe you
could always wait till it bloomed and then take a branch to a nursery,
extension agency, horticulture agent, master gardener, etc.



Val

Everyone has made good suggestions. One thing that wasn't yet said
directly he
One poster referred me to wikipedia. That article says that elderberry
has a mild amount of cyanide, which is obviously unwise to eat, but can
be safely removed by cooking. That, apparently, is why people can
consume jelly, wine, tea, etc, but you never see fresh elderberries for
sale in the grocery.

And of course, there are different varieties, which vary in their
cyanide content.

Helpful comments from all. Thank you.

Ted Shoemaker