Sambucus nigra Instant Karma® (Elderberry)

Brightening the garden, Sambucus nigra Instant Karma® (Elderberry) is a deciduous shrub clothed in a lush, lacy foliage of variegated leaves from spring to fall. The blue-green leaves are adorned with a neat leaf margin that starts out gold in spring and changes to creamy white as the season progresses. In early summer, a profusion of large clusters packed with lemon-scented, white flowers are on display. They contrast nicely with the foliage and give way to edible purple-black berries later in the season. Tough and adaptable, this is a luminous shrub for the back of mixed borders, hedges or screens.

• Grows up to 6-8 ft. tall and wide (180-240 cm). Spreads freely by self-seeding and by root suckers to form colonies.
• Performs best in full sun or part shade, in moderately fertile, humus-rich, moist, well-drained soils. Best foliage color when grown in full sun. Drought tolerant.
• Excellent choice as a single specimen plant, informal screens or hedges.
• May be subject to verticillium wilt and aphids. Deer resistant.
• Propagate by softwood cuttings in early summer or hardwood cuttings in winter.
• Elderberries look great unpruned, but they take well to pruning too. They are best pruned after blooming, although if you are growing it primarily as a foliage plant, it can be pruned in early spring.
• This plant has medium severity poison characteristics. All parts are toxic to humans.