Sambucus nigra Marion Bull - Black Elder

The Sambucus nigra 'Marion Bull' is a black elderberry with dark green foliage bordered with creamy yellow. It forms a relatively large, upright and bushy bush. In early summer, it is adorned with large, light pink fluffy umbels, which are rounder than usual, followed by fruiting with edible black berries. Hardy and deciduous like all elderberries, it shows beautiful ornamental qualities in a large country hedge in a semi-shaded position, where its bright foliage has a stunning effect.

The Sambucus nigra is a plant belonging to the Caprifoliaceae family, just like honeysuckles. It is a widespread wild species in Europe, North Africa, and Asia Minor. The black elderberry is an opportunistic and highly adaptable species, found almost everywhere in France in open woods, hedges, fallow land, coastal dunes, and even near human settlements, with which it has coexisted for millennia. Therefore, it is an undemanding and truly easy to grow bush everywhere. It tolerates clay-limestone soils perfectly, even relatively dry ones if they are deep.

The 'Marion Bull' form has a somewhat upright habit, reaching 2 to 3 m (7 to 10ft) in height and 2 m (7ft) in width. Its woody branches are verrucate, greyish, and filled with white pith. From spring to autumn, it bears elegant foliage: its leaves are divided into elongated leaflets with dentate edges, slightly glossy on the upper side. Their colour is a fairly dark green, surrounded by a wide creamy yellow border. Flowering usually occurs in June (a little earlier or later, depending on the climate) as long-lasting false umbels 10 to 12 cm (4 to 5in) wide. The small, lightly scented flowers with five pale pink petals. This flowering attracts numerous pollinating insects. The fruits, edible and tasty once cooked, are black to purplish berries with soft flesh, measuring 6 to 8 mm (1in) in diameter.

'Marion Bull' elderberry is an excellent free hedge plant, exposed to partial shade, to preserve its variegated foliage from scorching sun. Plant it also at the back of a shrub border. Like all elderberries, it is hardy and easy to combine with other shrubs with spring or summer flowering. Pair it with Lilacs or Ornamental Apple Trees, Prunus, and Viburnum. In very moist soil, it can serve as a backdrop behind very tall perennials such as Gunnera, Ligularia, or giant ferns.

The flowers can be prepared in fritters or syrup in the kitchen by letting them soak in sugar. The vinegar-pickled buds enhance salads, and the berries are consumed as juice, jellies, jams, or wine. They pleasantly flavour apple cakes. Only the flowers and berries without petioles are edible; the rest of the plant can be toxic.

In the garden: Elderberry leaves are known to accelerate compost decomposition. The black elderberry leaf infusion is useful in organic gardening to fight against mildew and aphid or rodent attacks: soak 1 kg of leaves for a few days in 10 L of water, then spray as needed. It can also be planted in an orchard, where it attracts insect-eating birds.