WAITING IN THE WINGS

A BRIGHT, CHILL MORNING

FLOWERS OF RED ELDERBERRY WAITING FOR A WARM DAY TO BLOOM

LILAC BUDS READY TO BLOOM

Thursday,  9:30 AM.  33 degrees F at the Ferry Dock, 28 on the back porch.  Wind northwest with occasional moderate gusts.  The morning is bright and chill, the humidity 57%, and the barometer is wavering up and down, currently standing at 30.07".  It looks like our spate of unpleasant weather is pretty much behind us.
   The next woody plants to bloom are virtually "waiting in the wings" for the next warm day.  Common lilac, Syringia vulgaris,  in the olive family, and red elderberry, Sambucus pubens (AKA racemosa) in the honeysuckle family, can hardly contain themselves.
   The lilac is native to rocky hills of the Balkans, from whence it was introduced to European gardens  in the 16th Century.  It has been hybridized for its lilac, pink and white blooms, first in France, and then in England and Germany, for hundreds of years, and there are innumerable varieties.  Lilacs grow quite large and will become almost treelike unless controlled, forming large clones. They will tolerate heavy pruning, including cuting back to ground level, but if pruned that drastically they will not bloom for a year or two.  Lilacs flower on new growth, and should be pruned right after they bloom.  The dead flowers and seed heads should be cut off to improve the appearance of the plant. To keep the large woody plants healthy and in check, three to five of the largest stems of this multi-stemmed plant should be pruned back to their base every year of two.  Varieties of lilacs are also chosen for their perfumed scent, and for their ability to hold up as cut flowers in a vase.
   The circumpolar, native red elderberry is very similar to the common elderberry, S. canadensis, and replaces it in more northern regions.  I was not familiar with it until we moved to Northern Wisconsin.  The blooms differ from the common elderberry and the European elderberry in that they are smaller, and  are conical rather that flat. Flower color is white to creamy. The seeds are red rather than blue-black, making the large shrubs rather easy to spot in the woods once one is used to looking for them.  The shrubs are rather common in wet areas and on adjacent drier sites.  The red berries are crisp, crunchy and tart, and probably somewhat toxic if one ate handfuls of them.  Cooked in jams and jellies they loose their toxicity are are quite flavorful.  The leaves are pinnately compound, the leaflets lance-shaped and toothed. I  have a red elderberry growing in the rock wall of the herb garden.  I tried to eliminate it for some years, but it was so persistent that I finally gave up, and now enjoy it as a somewhat unusual addition to the landscape, and look forward to its early blossoms and red berries

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