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True Root Nursery

Wild Elderberry Seedling

Wild Elderberry Seedling

Species: Sambucus canadensis

History: Native to southern Canada and the eastern half of the US, the berries and flowers of this shrub have been used to make a variety of edible goods including pies, glazes, jams, liquers, wine, and much more! The inner bark and leaves also have numerous uses such as traditional medicine, dyes, and insecticides. We collected seeds from some of the local wild elderberry bushes to offer a cheaper option for these great plants.

Why We Grow It: Elderberries are an all-purpose plant although these seedlings may not produce berries that are as large or sweet as the ones produced by named cultivars. Nonetheless Steph is quite fond of wild elderberry pie and, along with the multitude of uses listed above, elderberries are great for attracting birds and pollinators. Eating the raw elderberries can cause adverse reactions so it is recommended that you cook them first!

Fruit Specs

Recommended Use: Cooking, baking, preserving, wine, attracting wildlife and pollinators

Fruit Size: Small

Storage: Keeps about a week in the fridge

Harvest:

Growing Specs

Canadian Hardiness Zone: 4

Soil Preference: Prefers loam but adaptable to different soil types

Flowering Time: Early July

Bloom Colour: White

Pollination Requirements: Self-pollinating, this variety will produce fruit without a different elderberry variety but will produce more and better fruit if one is present

Sun/Shade Requirements:

Full sun to partial shade (approx. 6-10 hours of sun daily)

General Growth Habits:

Shrub grows up to 2m tall, vigorous with an upright growth habit

Shipping vs. Pick Up

CLICK HERE to see how shipping compares to pick up.

Shipping: Every year we ship thousands of trees across Canada (except BC due to CFIA regulations). We carefully bag roots in damp sawdust, then box them and send them out via courrier. 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. We really appreciate if you can make an appointment to pick up, then we can be as organized as possible during our busy season.

Size at Purchase

Our ungrafted fruit tree seedlings, nut tree seedlings, berries, and other miscellaneous plants are categorized into the following sizes excluding the roots:

  • 5-15cm
  • 15cm+
  • 30cm+
  • 60cm+
  • 90cm+

All of these 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.

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