Texas Gardening: Elderberries? Currants? Can these be grown in Houston?, 1 by cr0ak

cr0ak wrote:
Dale - I really do miss the oriental poppies, too. And the wild flowers - like trillium, jack-in-the-pulpit, etc. I do not miss pine trees! (except the Blue Spruce). My neighbor behind me has over a dozen of them planted along our back fence. I HATE them! They're continually dropping needles and pine cones, and they shade too much of my yard. I'm seriously thinking of doing some major branch-whacking when I re-landscape. Everything hanging over the fence gets lopped off! LOL I think they're loblolly pines?

However, I agree with podster - I LOVE the longer growing seasons, the gorgeous fields of bluebonnets in spring, and definitely I do NOT miss the cold! I only miss the snow on Christmas Day (when we would sit in Momma's living room in front of the fire and look out her big picture window watching the snow come down - and everything looked like a winter wonderland). BUT - to have to go out and shovel it, or drive in it - or deal with that dang road salt that would get all over everything? And come January with the below zero temps, and the grey days of winter? NO THANKS! LOL

The photo is a shot that I took about a month or so ago when we drove up north. It's taken in front of Lucent Technologies (in Naperville, IL). The pic doesn't really do justice to the gorgeous colors of the leaves, but...


"Meant to ask... useful in what manner please?"

Podster - I harvest it and use it for stakes, trellises, etc. :) It gets expensive to buy bamboo stakes! (And sometimes the ones at the store just aren't long enough for what I need.) No... no favorite recipe for the elderberries. Just that I love elderberry jelly, especially on a certain cookie that I make for Christmas. (It's a sandwich cookie made of ground filberts with the jelly as the filling between the two cookies.) And, of course, I love elderberry syrup on my pancakes and French toast! :)


"cr0ak, I sure hope your bamboo is the clumping form and not the "running" form."

Htop - yes! I'm not sure which variety it is (I lost the tag years ago), but it's a green and white striped, clumping. The birds love it, too. (Another reason that I'll keep it. ;) )