Elderberry Varieties | Available at Elderberry Grove
Where can I get elderberry varieties to grow in Canada?
We grow 28 elderberry varieties at our farm in cold hardiness zone 6b, in Salmon Arm, BC, Canada.
Cuttings are harvested in winter only and available for shipping from January through April. Pre-Order starts in Fall. Order here
+ Learn how to grow elderberry cuttings
VARIETIES:
-> Sambucus canadensis (aka Sambucus nigra. ssp canadensis) -Native to Canada/US. Zone 2-8. Find your growing zone here
Bob Gordon is one of the best for flavour and high brix (sweetness). It ranked as the heaviest producer in trials at the university of Missouri. Identified and collected from the wild by Robert Gordon, Charlotte Cooper, and Andrew Thomas near Osceola, MO in 1999. Added bonus is the berry clusters hang decumbently which discourages birds from having an easy snack! Semi-determinate to determinate in our lattitude. Bob Gordon ripens a bit later than some of the other varieties and for this reason I do not recommend it for anyone any further north than where we live at 50.7 degrees latitude.
Ranch is very vigorous and heavy yielding. It is more drought tolerant than others and is the quickest to root from cuttings. Stems are strong and upright. Bushes are quick to establish. This is our most reliably productive and time proven variety on this farm. We've picked a favourite/best and it's Ranch. It is Strongly determinate. Ranch begins to ripen earlier than most other varieties. It does well in poor soils, but is not the best for alkaline (high pH soil types). The fruit set on the season's earliest blooms will be improved for Ranch if you plant Kent, Berry Hill, Nova or Victoria as a pollinator companion.
Wyldewood is a widely grown variety in the Midwest. Selected from the wild by Jack Millican near Eufaula, OK, in 1995. Excellent for harvest and processing with good flavour. Fruit set is reliable and prolific. This variety is completely indeterminate, and will continue to produce flowers until frost kills the plant – it is possible to still see fresh flowers in December! Wyldewood is one of the latest ripening of all our varieties - and for this reason I do not recommend it for anyone growing further north than where we live at 50.7 degrees latitude. It would still be a great choice if you lived at a slightly lower lattitude, or just want to grow it for flower production. Prune to 4' tall or more to encourage earlier ripening.
Adams is an older variety originating in 1926 in New York, selected from the wild by William Adams. Tall variety which has small berries, but yields well and has large clusters. Ripens late for us, but nonetheless still ripens well. It also produces a lot of flowers as it is indeterminate. Adams performs quite well for us. Extremely vigorous.
York is a cross between Ezyoff and Adams 2 done in 1926. Plant large / productive; berry clusters heavy, berries are quite large and deeply red in colour. Ripens well for us, but does so medium to late. Vigorous and bears well for many years.
Nova Seedling of Adams 2 released in 1960 from research station in Kentville, Nova Scotia. Large dark fruit, with deep red juice. Sweeter than Kent and Victoria. Grown by commercial growers in Canada; Tolerates higher latitudes better than some varieties. Nova is the unrivalled earliest ripener of all varietys we grow.
Scotia Seedling of Adams 2 released in 1960 from research station in Kentville, Nova Scotia. Large fruit, ripens early. Sweeter than Kent and Victoria. Grown by commercial growers in Canada; should tolerate higher latitudes better than some varieties.
Victoria Seedling of Adams 2 released in 1960 from research station in Kentville, Nova Scotia. Grown by commercial growers in Canada; tolerates higher latitudes better than some varieties. Deep purple clusters that ripen early and have excellent colour.
Kent Seedling of Adams 1 released in 1960 from research station in Kentville, Nova Scotia. Grown by commercial growers in Canada; tolerates higher latitudes better than some varieties. Kent is in the top two producers of the Kentville 5 in our experience. Deep purple fruit.
Coomer description coming soon.
Berry Hill was developed in Vermont by Lewis Hill. Very cold hardy, productive, ripens uniformly and early. Beatiful clusters with large deep red berries. It has very decumbent cymes which are more bird resistant. This variety is among the top 3 most vigorous s. canadensis and is THE most tolerant of alkaline soil out of all the s. canadensis varieties.
Johns description coming soon!
Goodbarn This is our shortest and smallest variety. It has nice even ripening clusters. One study found that Goodbarn berries have the highest levels of beneficial and medicinal phytocompounds in it's juice of all the varieties they assessed.
Pocahontas This is a heavy producer of excellent quality berries. Due to it's late ripening it's quite popular in the USA and other more southerly lattitudes. If pruned to no less than 4 feet of height it can still ripen on time for us at our farm. The canes are somewhat weak and it can be subject to damage in wind storms.
Coop Description Coming Soon!
East Grove Description Coming Soon!
Dandy Description Coming Soon!
Delight Description Coming Soon!
-> Sambucus nigra - Native to Europe. Zone 6+ grow. Find your zone here
Marge is a seedling of Haschburg (S. nigra). Marge produces on second year wood. A very heavy producer of small decumbent cymes, and is highly resistant to eriophyid mite. For unknown reasons Marge adapts better to many north american climates than any other S. nigra variety. Commercial growers have great success with it in climates with both hot summers and cold winters. Some sources indicate that the source of it's unique characteristics is that It may be a hybrid with S. canadensis
Jumbo This is a sambucus nigra type that was found growing in Vermont. It produces HUGE cymes with big berries. This variety has been extrordinarily productive - in fact it comes in at over twice the average lbs of berries per acre as the rest of our varieties. No other variety even comes close. Vigorous, large, productive and proven to be more cold hardy than other Sambucus nigra.
Sampo is particularly suited to juice production. Extremely vigorous high producer with stiff and strong branches. A result of recent breeding efforts from the Research Center for Horticulture in Arslev, Denmark. Unforunately it rates a bit lower on cold hardiness than other Sambucus nigra
Samdal resulted from recent breeding efforts from the Research Center for Horticulture in Arslev, Denmark. Tends not to sucker. Excellent yield and highly vigorous.
Samyl is a result of recent breeding efforts from the Research Center for Horticulture in Arslev, Denmark. Particularly known for its flavourful flowers. As productive as Samdal. Samyl is one of the most vigorous varieties of s. nigra on our farm, however it exhibited the most frost damaged branches after the cold snap of late 2022 of any of our S. nigra varieties.
Sambu A result of recent breeding efforts from the Research Center for Horticulture in Arslev, Denmark.
Haschburg originates from an Austrian breeding program in Klosterneuburg, Austria. It is often cited as the most widely grown elderberry varietal in Germany and Austria. Produces abundant clusters of large juicy and flavourful berries. It appears to be the most cold tolerant of all the sambucus nigra varieties on our farm which hail from Europe.
Haidegg 13 description coming soon!
Haidegg 17 is a particularly outstanding selection from Klosterneuburg, Austria. Cymes significantly larger than Haschburg and Sampo. Full yield reached in a short time. Up to 25t/ha.
Bradet This is one of a series of Elders bred for vitamin production and the food industry in Romania in the 1950s. According to the Romanian book I have on elderberry production it is an excellent producer.
Allesso Selection from the wild, Denmark.
Korsor Selection from the wild, Denmark. Flowers are high in sugar content, used in wines and cordials.
Danau Description Coming Soon!
Sambuco Description Coming Soon!