Sambucus 'Chocolate Marzipan'

Sambucus 'Chocolate Marzipan' is the Kraken of the elderberry world, and a garden designer's dream. We picked up this new, and still virtually unknown Edmund Brown hybrid during our 2020 UK travels, in our search for any dark-foliaged sambucus that would survive our heat and humidity. This beast has done far more than survive, forming a massive 12' tall x 12' wide specimen with widely arching woody stems, clothed with large black foliage, and topped, starting in June (NC) with 10" wide cymes (flat flower heads) of tiny white flowers with a delightful marzipan scent. Even after flowering, the purple racemes remain attractive. We absolutely love this plant, but be sure to allow plenty of room. Moist, rich soils will produce the largest plants. The intensity of the leaf color fades somewhat in heat, but still retains the dark aura in the garden.