Alys Fowler: elderberries

‘Elderberries are an essential meal for birds, too.’ Photograph: Alamy

The slow, graceful fall of elderflowers to berries is the last march of summer. By the time they are dropping, summer is closing up for another year. They blush purple, then eventually darken to a purple black that signifies that summer is finally over. There may well be warm days to come, with perfect golden light that seduces with lingering summer kisses, but the nights tell us otherwise.

Elderberries are rich in vitamin C and antioxidants; the juice makes a wonderful winter tonic if gently heated with a hefty amount of sugar. Don’t over-boil or none of the good stuff will be left (but don’t drink it raw, either: it will make you nauseous). You can also use the berries for wine and jam. They are an essential meal for birds, too; starlings and blackbirds, in particular, seem fond of them. Although the flowers and fruit are edible, the other parts are poisonous, and the leaves smell particularly foul when crushed.

The common elder (Sambucus nigra), is in the family adoxaceae. The whole family used to be clumped in with the honeysuckle family, but boffins have decided elder needs its own gang. This tree is an opportunist, turning up anywhere the berries are dropped by birds. It tends to become increasingly scraggy in shape with age, and most people view it as a weedy species that’s not suitable for the garden. However, in the mid-18th century it was a much prized hedge shrub, planted in double rows and elaborately pruned into a diamond pattern. Its fast-growing nature makes it ideal for such things. For those who like a little creative weaving, perhaps this practice could be reinstated? It would at least be prettier than bright orange fence panels.

Perhaps even that is not enough of a hard sell to persuade most to put an elder in their garden, but there are a number of pretty ones. S. nigra f. porphyrophylla ‘Gerda’ (also known as ‘Black Beauty’) was bred in the 1980s. It has rich, dark purple foliage and brilliant pink flowers that make a wonderful elderflower cordial or champagne. In 2003, the breeders upped their game and produced S. ‘Eva’, often sold as ‘Black Lace’, a cut-leaved form that has deeply dissected leaves and creamy pink flowers.

With both of these, the best foliage colour comes when they are grown in full sun. Too much shade, and the plant will start to revert to greenish-bronze foliage. If dark-coloured foliage isn’t your thing, then S. nigra f. laciniata has the same fern-like foliage as ‘Eva’, but with green leaves and white flowers.

Finally, one for those who have limited space: S. ‘Black Tower’ is a dark-leaved form with an upright habit. If you don’t want it to tower too much, cut it back to its base in spring, and it will reflush with new growth.

Alys Fowler: looking after plants in the holidays

 

‘The trick with indoor plants is to slow growth down so they need very little care while you’re away.’ Photograph: Getty Images/Dorling Kindersley

I am going away. I am going to sit by the edge of a lake and drink Aperol. I am going to stand under mighty trees and wonder aloud about the men who planted them. I am going to marvel at intact 16th-century frescoes and peer behind the backs of fountains to better understand Renaissance hydraulics. While I am away, little things will grow, the sun will shine and everything will need watering.

If no one is around to water, or those around may be erratic (at best) at the job, then the only thing is to take matters into your own hands.

The trick with indoor plants is to slow growth down so they need very little care. Water all your houseplants well, then line the bath or sink with a thick wad of damp newspaper. Place your plants on this, so they remain damp and humid. Make sure they are away from direct light, and when you return your plants will have sat doing very little. You can leave them like this for a week. If you are going away for longer, put the plants on top of bricks and fill the bath to just above the top of the bricks. If the plants are in terracotta pots, capillary action will take care of watering for you.

You can make a smaller version of this with a washing-up bowl and a roasting tray (or something with similarly high sides). Turn the bowl upside down and lay over some capillary matting or an old towel. Drape one end of the towel in the water-filled tray. The plants will remain moist as long as the water lasts. This works just as well outside for young plug plants and seedlings.

For larger pots outdoors, you can either pray to the rain god or hedge your bets. If you can move all your pots to a shady corner, this will slow down respiration and thus growth. If you can’t do this, some makeshift shade netting, such as lace curtains, will work as well.

Make sure all your pots have saucers, so that if and when they are watered, at least the whole pot soaks up the excess. Also mulch the top of the pots with bark mulch or even just homemade compost to conserve moisture. You can make a temporary water feeder by recycling plastic water bottles (as large as you have). Fill the bottle with water and make a very small hole in the cap. Bury the bottle upside down in the pot and the water will slowly leak out, as long as the hole is tiny; too big and it will run through immediately.

If your pots are full of vegetables that don’t much like a week off watering, bribe your friends. Let them harvest whatever is available while you are away, or give them a cut of the future bounty. The more they pick things like runner beans and courgettes, the more there will be for you when you return.