Taken from Eclectic Gardener @ www.teachinggarden.com
Written by Alan Hickman

Shrubs seem to be undervalued or completely ignored when gardens are being planned or renovated. Very often there ends up being just a few dwarfish coniferous-evergreens which either grow straggly for want of appropriate trimming or get brutalized with hedge shears.
With their relatively fast growth, bold outlines and often four-season interest, deciduous shrubs are versatile plants and they deserve much greater appreciation and utilization in the home garden.
One shrub which has been receiving a lot of interest in Europe and North America is a newly introduced cultivar of Sambucus nigra. (sam-byoo-cus nigrah) Members of the genus Sambucus have long been valued for their fruit - which is the source of elderberry wine and of jellies and jams - but the genus is also geographically widespread and genetically interesting.
The Horticultural Institute at East Malling, Kent, in southeastern England, is probably best known for its research and development of rootstocks for apple trees, but there is also a certain amount of investigation involving ornamental plants. Ken Tobutt is a geneticist and research leader at the institute and part of his time has been devoted to an investigation of the genetics of the many species of Sambucus and their wide range of leaf colour and form.
One of the upshots of a ten-year breeding program has been the development of a new cultivar which is now being marketed under the trademark name of Black Lace. (Sambucus nigra ‘Eva’ pp#15,575, cbraf) The cultivar was available last year in limited release but this season it should be widely available.
Appropriately, Black Lace™ has very dark, purple-black, leaves. The foliage is finely cut giving the plant at least a casual resemblance to the much more difficult to grow Japanese Maple. Black Lace™ is very cold hardy (USDA zone 4) and at maturity it will reach a height of 6 - 8 feet with a spread perhaps a little less than that.
While Black Lace™ requires full sun for best colour, it is quite adaptable when it comes to soil. If a garden has a problem wet spot then Sambucus will be right at home but established plants are reported to do nicely even in quite dry conditions.
In summer the plant is covered with six to ten inch, creamy-pink, flower heads with a faintly citrus scent. As the season progresses, the flowers develop into deep red-black fruit which can either be used for wine or preserves or be left for birds to feed on over winter.
Depending on the needs of a particular landscape design, Black Lace™ can either dominate, like a cross between Darth Vader and Big Bird, or slip into the background like a black dress behind an opal pin. One of the most used promo pictures of the plant shows the cultivar as a foil for variegated hostas and pink petunias - the dark foliage giving a lift and prominence to the hostas which they would not have against most other backgrounds.
The combination of Black Lace™ and other related species can also be quite eye catching in a shrub border. Sambucus racemosa ‘Plumosa Aurea’ is a cultivar with finely cut leaflets, bronzy when young, which turn golden yellow. The plant has a soft mounding outline and small, creamy-yellow, flowers which transform later into glossy red fruit.
Sambucus nigra ‘Pulverulenta’ is a striking specimen. As the name would suggest, the heavily mottled foliage looks as if each leaflet had been covered with white dust. This is a slower-growing smaller plant which is best located next to something tall to provide protection from strong afternoon sun. A variant, Sambucus nigra `Madonna', with foliage marbled with green and yellow, is a rather more robust grower.
With the planting season almost upon us, take a look around the garden and envision how it might look with the addition of some strategically placed shrubs. There are few landscapes which can’t be improved by hiding something or by drawing attention to something else.
For local gardeners, all the plants mentioned above are available from Humber Nurseries Ltd., on Highway 50, just south of Queen Street (Hwy 7). See http://www.gardencentre.com/.