Getting it to bloom

Why won't my Laced Up Elderberry bloom? (and how to make it flower)

Also called Laced Up Elderberry, Sambiance Elderberry, Black Elder (Sambucus nigra 'Sambiance').

More about laced up elderberry

About Laced Up Elderberry

Sambucus nigra 'Sambiance' · also called Laced Up Elderberry, Sambiance Elderberry · flowering

Laced Up is a compact, deeply dissected-leaf elderberry cultivar with near-black foliage and a tidier, more upright habit than older black-leaved forms. Pink-tinged flower clusters appear in early summer, followed by small dark berries. Its restrained size makes it better suited to smaller gardens and mixed borders than the full-sized Black Beauty, while retaining the same striking foliage appeal.

Plant type: flowering

The reasons laced up elderberry isn't blooming

Almost every non-blooming laced up elderberry traces back to one of these, roughly in order of how common they are:

Too little sun — most of these need full sun (or very bright light) to flower well; shade gives leaves, not blooms.
Too much nitrogen feed, driving lush foliage at the expense of flowers (very common with general or lawn feeds).
The plant has not been deadheaded, so it stops flowering once it sets seed.
Irregular watering — drought or waterlogging at the budding stage makes buds abort.
It is still too young or was checked by a transplant and is rebuilding before flowering.

Feeding laced up elderberry a high-nitrogen general feed and growing it in too little sun — you get a big leafy plant and almost no flowers.

The fix — how to get laced up elderberry to flower

Maximise sun. Give laced up elderberry the sunniest spot you have — for most bedding and fruiting plants, more direct light directly means more flowers.
Switch the feed. Move off high-nitrogen feeds and use a higher-potassium "bloom" or tomato-type feed as it comes into flower.
Deadhead regularly. Remove spent flowers often to keep it producing more rather than stopping to set seed.
Water consistently. Keep moisture even through budding and flowering — drought-then-flood swings make buds drop.

Light and feeding do most of the heavy lifting here. Dial in the spot with the light guide for laced up elderberry and get the feeding right with the laced up elderberry fertilising schedule — the wrong feed (too much nitrogen) is one of the most common silent reasons a healthy plant makes leaves instead of flowers.

Bloom season and what to expect

Laced Up Elderberry flowers across its growing season (mostly summer) and, kept fed and deadheaded, can bloom for many weeks or right up to frost.

Post-bloom care so it flowers again

Deadhead, keep feeding lightly, and many will rebloom; collect seed from the best plants at the end of the season if you want to grow them again.

For everything else this plant needs day to day, see the full laced up elderberry care brief and its watering schedule — a stressed, badly watered plant rarely has the energy to flower at all.

Laced Up Elderberry blooming — frequently asked questions

Why won't my laced up elderberry flower?

Laced Up Elderberry blooms on the season's growth given enough sun, warmth and the right feed — there is no cold or photoperiod trick, just good growing conditions and a bloom-leaning feed. The most common reason it is not happening: Too little sun — most of these need full sun (or very bright light) to flower well; shade gives leaves, not blooms.

How do I make laced up elderberry bloom?

Give laced up elderberry the sunniest spot you have — for most bedding and fruiting plants, more direct light directly means more flowers. Move off high-nitrogen feeds and use a higher-potassium "bloom" or tomato-type feed as it comes into flower.

When does laced up elderberry normally bloom?