I haven't noticed a bad odor from Sambucus, i wonder if stinking elder might refer to different variety. The canadensis will spread by suckering. The gold leaved cultivars of racemosa can be very attractive. You might want to consider Sambucus nigra also, there are various cultivars including purple and variegated leaves.

If there is an arboretum near you, you might want to see if they have any of these and how they might look in a landscape setting.

If you want native shrubs, sambucus canadensis is native to the eastern US and sambucus racemosa is native to the western US. Sambucus nigra is not native; it is the european one.

Hmm...too bad, the pretty dark leaved ones are nigra. I did see some references to racemosa being the european one? Confusing...

Adam

I've got canadensis and it's beautiful. It is already thinking of spreading, but that's what I want :)

Yes, I saw one reference to it being european, but I don't think that source was reputable as this one.

Here is a link that might be useful: Washington Native Plant Society

Sambucus racemosa and canadense are both native to the east But racemosa has a more northerly range. sambucas cerulea or blue elderberry is from the west coast . I have both natives they don't grow in a straight line They like to sprawl out all over the place, like suburbia. Sarah

S. canadensis (American elder) is a terrific shrub. It grows anywhere--I have it in both sun and shade and everything in between. The suckering is quite containable--the babies are easy to dig up and plant elsewhere, or to mow over if you just don't want them. You can let it get to be 12 feet tall, or you can easily keep it to 4 or 5 feet if you prefer. The flowers are absolutely gorgeous, and the fruits are one of the birds' favorites, judging by the fact that you will never ever see a completely ripe berry still on the plant. It does take about 2 years to become really established, so you need some patience, but once it settles in, it's there for the long haul. No pests, and rabbits don't seem to eat it in winter.

The two eastern species are S. canadensis, American elder, with purple-black fruits that are edible to people, and S. pubens, scarlet elder, with red fruits that are poisonous to people. Both will attract and feed wildlife. S. canadensis is vase-shaped; S. pubens is more sprawling. I grow only S. canadensis because I choose not to plant stuff I know is poisonous to people--there are small children around.

Is s pubens poisonous I didn't know that Then that's the one that sprawls. Sarah

My, that >isOne source I see, a famous botanist here by the name of Brother Marie-Victorin, had it that Linnaeus did not considered pubens as a sub-species of racemosa, but as a distinct species.
Anyhow, if you want to garden for wildlife, and esp. regarding bird variety, S. canadensis is a "riot" you can't go wrong with, with its myriads of late summer/early fall fruits! I don't find it suckers really that bad at all (and anyway, it >belongs

Here is what the usda site says about racemosa

Here is a link that might be useful: sambuca racemosa