I can provide cuttings from Fuyu persimmon and Celeste fig, and I am wondering what it would take to get some root cuttings from your nameless, thornless blackberry. In sections about 6-8" long, I can easily grow them from that much. I also have Anna apple and PinkLady apples I could cut from...If interested, post back or email me at mosin53@aol.com Thank you, LtlWilli~Rick

Molly, Black Lace can be stubburn to flower, and it should flower if you have another bush or not. It may not fruit without a 2nd bush. I would try Black Beauty, Laciniata or Emerald Lace. You need another cultivar for fruit, not the same one. When I think about it Nigra species is somewhat self fruitful, so you don't need a 2nd bush although a 2nd bush would make them produce more fruit. It's canadensis that is not self fruitful. If you want fruit though best to grow one meant for fruit. Bob mentioned he has Samdal a nigra species that fruits very well. Samyl fruits even better! Both can be obtained from Nourse Farms. I would get that for fruit. Lace and the others are not really great producers as you are finding out. Well some of the ornamentals produce OK Emerald Lace produces fairly well. I like the variegated species, but they too are not grown for fruit as much and require some shade. The really white one Sambucus nigra 'Pulverulenta' is tough to grow. I lost one this year due to the extreme winter. I replaced it this spring. I just like it so much, I'm still trying to figure out how to grow it well. Now the other variegated species Sambucus nigra 'Albovariegata' grows like a weed, but is susceptable to fungal disease, it needs to be sprayed. It is also a very handsome plant. Mine is getting big! I grow them at my cottage as I have low light there and am trying to find low light plants that are edible. it has been a difficult challenge. Cornus Mas though grows well there, and so I have a couple cultivars of that up there. Molly I would try feeding your bush with Holly-Tone. The PH might be too high, and the complete nutrition of Holly-Tone may help if maybe it is a lack of a micro-nutrient. Holly-Tone has sulfur and will lower PH slightly over time. Adding iron might help too. Elders like a PH of around 6.0 A soil test could help determine the problem. Sometimes in low light they will not fruit. .

LOTS of misinformation going on here!! Elderberries - Sambucus species - are self fertile. You do NOT need two different varieties to get fruit but you will have much larger and more reliable cropping if you do. This is the same for any sort of self fertile fruit. These are caning shrubs - not trees - and do best in full sun and with reasonably moist soil. Raw fruits is perfectly edible but so astringent as to be virtually unpalatable. That's why most sources recommend cooking or otherwise 'preparing' the fruit, rather than eating fresh. Red elderberries (S. racemosa) are seldom used for berry production as they tend to be less palatable than the darker berried forms and reportedly are toxic if eaten out of hand (although they taste so bad fresh, I can't imagine anyone doing so!!). btw, as long as bloom times coincide, black elder can cross pollinate blue or American elder. Elder flowers are wind pollinated. And blue (S. caerulea) and American (S. canadensis) tend to be the tastiest and heaviest croppers of the various species.

I would HIGHLY reccomend the 'Wyldewood #1'... of all my cuttings recieved in trades (50+/- of 10 varieties) this year they were the ONLY ones to survive. I recieved them from a 'private party'. Meanwhile I have come to find that in an ongoing Research Project(Genotype X Environment Interaction in Elderberry (Sambucus SP.) Cultivars and Selections Grown in Oregon and Missouri) by the US Dept. of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service URL : http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/projects/projects.htm?ACCN_NO=409276&fy=2006 in the year 2006 they had to say: 'More than 500 elderberry plants were propagated, grown, and evaluated for these studies. ' ... ... 'Two cultivars, ÂGordon B and ÂWyldewood 1 have performed so well in our trials that we are currently negotiating with their owners to publish and release the cultivars to the public. ' and in the 2007 update to the study: 'Two outstanding elderberry cultivars (ÂGordon and ÂWyldewoodÂ) are in the process of being published and 'released' to the public. Our study confirmed the exceptional productivity of these two cultivars and provides the basis for their release. ' Check out WyldewoodCellars.com Their prices are VERY reasonable and the Wyldewood #1 is an awesome plant ! Here is a link that might be useful: Wyldewood Cellars.com