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Browse Plants

Narrowed By:Type: Shrubs+ Uses: Focal Point+ Characteristics: Attracts Butterflies+ Botanical Name: S - U
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 listings   Sort By: Sort
Sambucus nigra 'Gerda' Sambucus nigra 'Gerda'
(Black Beauty™ elderberry)
(1 user review)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Valued for its flowers, foliage, and fruit, Black Beauty™ elderberry is a deciduous shrub that requires regular watering during its first few yearsbut will become more drought tolerant as it becomes established. Areas with moist soil are ideal. Black Beauty™ will grow 8 feet tall if left unpruned, but fairly severe pruning in the first year will keep the plant from looking leggy. Pruning will sacrifice the large pink flowers, but the plant will be much sturdier and have a better habit if you do. The flowers, which bloom in June, are large and have a lemony scent. The foliage is dark and finely cut. Elderberries are edible and can be used to make juice or jelly, if the birds don't get there first. -Teresa Smith, Regional Picks: Northeast, Fine Gardening issue #120

Sambucus nigra 'Madonna' Sambucus nigra 'Madonna'
(Black elder, European elder, Elderberry)
(1 user review)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This choice specimen livens up the garden all season long with its stunning leaves of green splashed with gold. It bears flattened, creamy white flowers that mature into glossy black fruit. It grows more slowly than most elderberries. It makes an attractive specimen.

Sambucus nigra 'Marginata' Sambucus nigra 'Marginata'
(Black elder, European elder, Elderberry, Variegated black elder)
Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This vigorous cultivar has attractive dark green leaves with yellow margins that fade to white. In summer, it bears flattened clusters of creamy white flowers which mature in fall to glossy black fruit. Plants grow 10-20 feet tall and wide.

Sambucus racemosa ‘Sutherland Gold’ Sambucus racemosa ‘Sutherland Gold’
(European red elder, Golden elderberry)
(1 user review)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This choice specimen has a graceful habit with finely divided golden foliage that emerges as bronze. It is less susceptible to sun scorch than the other gold varieties. It bears creamy white flowers that mature into red fruits. 

Spiraea fritschiana Spiraea fritschiana
(Fritsch spirea)
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

If you want a summer-flowering shrub with great fall color, look no further. Fritsch spirea jumps out with a striking red, orange, and yellow glow even brighter than the fall color of oaks and maples. It has coarser foliage than others in the genus, and if sheared back in spring, it produces giant summer blooms.

Syringa × laciniata Syringa × laciniata
(Cut-leaf lilac)
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This graceful hybrid produces fragrant, pale lilac flower clusters up to 4 inches long in late spring. The difference this lilac offers is its airy, finely textured foliage. It forms a spreading shrub 6 feet to 8 feet tall and wide.


Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 listings   Sort By: Sort