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| ELDERBERRY BLOOMS PROFUSELY EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK | |
| Published: July 01, 1997 | |
Berries will soon be ripe to make jellies and wineQ:I have just realized that the large shrubs with huge clusters of white flowers that are blooming on the sides of roads and almost everywhere else are elderberry bushes. I remember my grandparents using the French word for syrup to refer to them. They used the berries for wine and they would make a pudding for pies. Do you have information on using the berries?A:You have solved a great plant mystery for me in identifying elderberry bushes (Sambucus canadensis). John Bobenage, originally from Western Pennsylvania, living in Lafayette, and working as a mining engineer with Morton Salt, says that the local berries are the juciest and the least appreciated elderberries that he has found in living around the United States.John makes his own elderberry jelly which he eats daily, using berries from two 12-foot bushes dug as small plants from Weeks Island and transplanted to his yard two years ago. His wife makes a delicious apple and elderberry pie, and they have learned from Celia Bollich to make fritters from the flowers. The Bobenages have agreed to be interviewed for an Advertiser food feature when the berries are ripe, which should be in late July. In Johns home town, elderberries were used for a number of herbal remedies, including placing the leaves on cuts before bandaging. Because all parts of the plants can be poisonous except for the flowers and berries, care must be taken in cooking. Because the juices stain almost indelibly, special containers (dispensable) are usually used for cooking. Another local elderberry user is Dr. William Hagerman, who makes elderberry wine, and also uses elderberries to blend with some of his red wines for color and to make the flavor more complex. Sex, not auto exhaust emissions, causes leaves to dropQ:Every year I am impressed with the fall leaf color of the large pistachio trees on the USL campus. This year, I notice flowers falling from pistachio trees adjacent to Rex Street. Could this be due to automobile exhaust emissions?A:The pistachio ((Pistacia chinensis) is dioecious ( male or female). Male trees on the USL campus, between Madison Hall and Rex Street, normally drop all flowers. The female tree, between Madison Hall and Griffin Hall, is heavily fruited. The best time to see the red and green fruit clusters of the female tree is just about the time that the fall leaves turn color.Mayhaw tree is in the Hawthorne familyQ:Please give a source and the botanical name for mayhaw. Is it hawthorn (Crataegus opaca)?A:Youre right on target on the name. Two recommended cultivars are Super Spur and Mississippi Beauty. If you cant locate them locally, try calling Louisiana Nursery in Opelousas (318-948-3696).Exotic angels trumpet is good candidate for propagationQ:I purchased a beautiful, dark purple double angels trumpet. Can it be propagated?A:Yes, by cutting or seed. After flowers drop, egg-shaped seed pods are formed. Let them dry over winter and plant the seeds next spring. Cuttings are even easier. Before the first killing frost, take one foot sections of a trunk, and root in a bucket of water. When roots form, plant in a container and provide winter protection. In spring, plant in ground or leave in container. |