Return to the Northern Gardening Forum | Post a Follow-Up

o
Black Beauty or Guincho Purple Elder

clip this post email this post what is this?
see most clipped and recent clippings
Posted by shadow_Z3 z3 MB (My Page) on
Tue, Apr 26, 05 at 20:35

Which one of these is the hardier elder? Every time I buy a magazine, they say one or the other is hardier. Please advise.

Follow-Up Postings:

o
RE: Black Beauty or Guincho Purple Elder

clip this post email this post what is this?
see most clipped and recent clippings

Not sure, most sources I read say both are actually sambucus nigra and hardy to zone 4.

I do have another cultivar of sambucus nigra, sambucus nigra 'madonna' and it does suffer winter kill. It was two feet high last summer and died back to about a foot. However, seeing that it is basically newly planted, this might have affected it as well.

It's supposedly quick growing, so once it gets an established root system it will be interesting to see how big it gets in one summer.

Glen

o
RE: Black Beauty or Guincho Purple Elder

clip this post email this post what is this?
see most clipped and recent clippings

I'm not sure about hardiness, but 'Black Beauty' is a much nicer shrub than Guicho Purple. Guicho Purple greens up during the summer. The leaves on Black Beauty are much, much darker and stay that way. Madonna has not fared well here, usually suffering severely from winter die back. Both Guicho purple and Black Beauty seem stronger. In fact, the Black Beauty planted last November (replacement for Guicho) as a companion for a golden-leaf elder is already leafing out, much ahead of other shrubs in the garden.

o Post a Follow-Up

Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum.

    If you are a member, please log in.

    If you aren't yet a member, join now!

Return to the Northern Gardening Forum

Instructions

  • You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
  • Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
  • After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
  • It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
  • HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
  • No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
  • If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
  • If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.



 
Click here to learn more about in-text links on this page.