Nursery World - Outdoors: The plants in my street

Not only is elder versatile all year round, with edible spring flowers and autumn berries, it also makes excellent pea shooters, says Julie Mountain

Elders have a strong scent.

plant of the month: elder

The scientific name for elder is Sambucus nigra – the nigra refers to the very dark colour of the berries. What to look for:

fact file

stories

Read Cicely M Barker's poem The Elder Flower Fairy:

When the days have grown in length,

When the sun has greater power,

Shining in his noonday strength;

When the Elder Tree's in flower;

When each shady kind of place

By the stream and up the lane,

Shows its mass of creamy lace —

Summer's really come again!

Hold a fairy party as close to midsummer as you can – the best time of year ‘to try to find them’. If you have an elder tree, host a picnic under it and tell fairytales. How big do they think a fairy is? Collect an umbel so children can attempt estimates using the image of the poem (left) as a guide.

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