How we identify our American Elderberry cultivars: Adams, York and Native varieties

In our infinite wisdom we decided to interplant our different cultivars of American Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) on Forever Foods Farm. We have 6 different cultivars so far: Adams, Bob Gordon, Native, Scotia, Wyldwood and York. Three are very intermingled and older stands - Adams, Native and York - which is the types we discuss in this video. Good news is that we get very good fertility. Bad news is we have a difficult time identifying where one variety starts and another ends. Hopefully this video will help keep us straight! Forever Foods Farm. August 9, 2022.

[@Dave-vp8qb]

Thanks. Exactly the plants I have!

[@Dave-vp8qb]

York and adams description is what I needed. Have both but lost the tags. One is much smaller than the other

[@tontospirit]

Thank you for sharing this, this helped. Do you have a video on doing your cuttings?

[@foreverfoodsfarm]

I will make one this winter. This video will help you see what they look like. Skip to 1:50 min. th-cam.com/video/KkztZqr7WqQ/w-d-xo.html

[@RobertDonnelly-qg5cr]

Thanks for the variety comparison! may I ask what variety the much larger bush around the corner was?

[@foreverfoodsfarm]

Those are Adams. They grow so much in one season!

[@Danni-j3x]

Are these all still American? I was told that the American don’t have the toxins in them that other elderberries like European ones do.

[@foreverfoodsfarm]

You can eat the berries. You still want to avoid the stems as much as possible. Raw berries can cause digestive stress in some people. We haven’t had any issues.