Elderberry tree

I can see the beautiful white wall and a feline there!
This doesn't seem to be "nigra" to me. Mine has pinkish flower on mine.

Well, I can't find an alternative name - I didn't think it was, either, but the site "helped" me.

Sambucus racemosa (Red-berried elder)

I'd love to have an elder, if only they did mini ones ... lovely pic, Gattina

I'm certain you are right, Tommymoo, but the berries are definitely VERY black, so I rejected that name! Time for a rethink. That's where this site is SOOO useful!

I just put recipe for elderflower syrup on the web. Have a look if you are interested in healthy lemonade or tee during those cruel winters in mountains.

We obviously think alike, Katarina! I have (or rather had) a whole cupboard full of lemon syrup, walnut and raspberry liqueurs, and elderberry syrup, too. Great made up with hot water in the cold dark days of winter, or pretty good made with sparkling water and ice for when the hot weather finally arrives!

Exactly! :) Can you please send me your recipe on raspberry liqueur? I have lot of raspberries and was thinking of it...

Well, Katarina, I'm very bad at writing things down (I get told off by my daughter a lot about this) but I'll try to remember what I did last year. I microwave raspberries until they are just soft enough to sieve. The pulp I freeze to make jam or jelly or sauce or ice cream. The seeds I put into a big clip-top jar with a mixture of 80% fruit alcohol and the same amount of water, with half the weight (of the pips) of sugar dissolved in it. Each time I process more raspberries, I add the pips and more sugar. You can add more water/alcohol mix, and the more you add, the less concentrated the flavour will be. We used about a litre of alcohol, a litre of water, 2 kilos of raspberry seeds and about 1 kilo of sugar, but we kept adding, so I am afraid I lost track of the exact amounts. Can you buy fruit alcohol from the supermarkets in Slovakia? Keep the jar tightly closed and keep shaking the mixture, every time you pass the jar(!) After about 6 months, it should be ready. Strain it through a jelly bag or fairly fine muslin and put into bottles. Last year was the first time we tried this, and it worked out so well, that we hardly had any to drink ourselves, because all our friends thought it was so good, and we gave it all away! We thought it was like liquid sunshine or summer in a glass. I shall be making much, much more of it this year!

:) Well, sounds like traditional fruit alcohol manufacture :)

:-)

I'm sorry, I was wrong and you were right! It seems it is "sambucus nigra"!

I have sambucus with black leaves and the label says it is "sambucus nigra", and I misunderstood that the name had "nigra" because of the colour of the leaves. When I look at your sambucus, I thought it shouldn't have the same name as mine because yours have green leaves. Then I googled "sambucus" and gave you the wrong name. My apologies!

No problems, Tommymoo, it's easy to change. It IS a bit confusing, isn't it?

It seems I was forgiven, thank goodness!
I was simply stupid, as always lol :)

Don't be so hard on yourself! You don't sound at all stupid. ;-)

Oh you are so kind :)