Silver Creek Nursery Ltd.

Scotia Elderberry Bareroot

2025 Staff Favourite

Scotia Elderberries are Jenni's favourite this year! In Jenni's opinion “this variety is sweeter and less astringent than others, and I love using it to make elderberry syrup for an immune system boost in the winter months.”

All Staff Favourites are 20% off. The Staff Favourite Discount cannot be combined with other quantity discounts.

Species: Sambucus canadensis

History: Scotia was developed at the Kentville AAFC Research and Development Centre in Nova Scotia. It is a seedling of another variety, Adams 2, and was released by the research station in 1960, alongside the variety Nova. It is grown commercially in Canada.

Why We Grow It: Scotia elderberries ripen early in the season and have the highest sugar content of any named cultivar- though also some of the smallest berries. They are great for a variety of uses such as making juice and wine, baked goods, and even tinctures. Eating the raw elderberries can cause adverse reactions so it is recommended that you cook them first!

    $24.00 $19.20
    Size:

    56 in stock

    Fruit Traits:

    Recommended Use: Juice, wine, preserves, baking

    Fruit Size: Small

    Storage: Keeps about a week in the fridge

    Harvest: July - Late

    Tree Traits:

    Canadian Hardiness Zone: 4

    Soil Preferance: Prefers loam but adaptable to different soil types

    Flowering Time:

    Pollination Requirements: Partially self-pollinating, will produce some fruit on its own but will produce more and better fruit with another elderberry variety planted nearby

    Sun/Shade Requirements: Full sun to partial shade (approx. 6-10 hours of sun daily)

    General Growth Habit: Shrub grows up to 2m tall, vigorous with an upright growth habit

    Shipping: Every year we ship thousands of plants across Canada. We carefully bag roots in damp sawdust, then box them and send them out via courier. CLICK HERE to see our shipping policy.

    Pick-up: We also have thousands of trees picked up from our nursery each year. The pick-up options is free, though you must wait until you have been emailed a confirmation that your order is ready to pick up, which will have further information such as hours, locations, etc.

    Elderberries are divided into the following grades:
    • 1 year plant - 15-40cm above the roots

    There is some overlap in size since we are also taking the age of the plants into account. Some older plants may not have put on quite as much vegetative growth but will have larger root systems.
    Unless specified, heights exclude the roots since seedlings and some berries will often have a lot of root growth but relatively little vegetative growth (ex. our Shagbark Hickories seedlings are often 5-15cm above the soil but will have roots that reach 20cm+ in length).

    Not all of our berries and seedlings will be available in all of these grades since growth rate can vary significantly across species and even varieties. While we remain competitive in our plant size, it's also worth noting we don't use synthetic chemicals to push vegetative growth, therefore you may find conventional nursery stock larger in some instances comparatively.
    Why plant small? It's best to transplant when a plant is young so it can establish its roots before it has a lot of vegetative growth. This is much less stressful on it and bareroot plants tend to catch up and even surpass larger potted ones planted at the same time, after a few years.


    Orders that are cancelled last minute due to size (being "too small"), will still incur the applicable cancellation fees if the plants are true to our grading standards as per the agreement of sale when the order was placed.

    Scotia Elderberry

    Scotia Elderberry Bareroot

    $24.00 $19.20
    $24.00 $19.20

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