Elderberry Elixir Recipe from the Apothecary Garden

Reader Contribution by Susanna Raeven
Updated on November 10, 2022
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by Adobestock/Jane Vershinin

Learn how to grow elder in an apothecary garden and make your own elderberry elixir recipe remedy to stay healthy all winter long!

It is snowing outside, the winter solstice and cold moon passed. The light is returning now, oh so slowly at first. There are many plants that can help us move joyfully through the dark winter time, supported by a vibrant immune system that wards off cold and flu alike.

Black elder (Sambucus nigra) is a wonderful ally in your herbal winter apothecary and a beautiful plant in your garden, blessing you with potent medicine and abundant wildlife that is attracted by her blossoms and fruit.

The Elder in your Garden

You will need a big open sunny spot in your garden that is well irrigated and mulched with a thick layer of wood chips – elder likes wet feet. So much that the Elder Mother grows wild most abundantly in wetlands and along creeks where the big shrub helps to dry the soil after flooding. Peppermint and spearmint are nice companion plants, covering and shading the soil in between and providing aromatic cooling mint teas in the summer.

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