The Golden Glow Elder Shrub

About the Golden Glow Elder Shrub

The hardy Golden Glow Elder shrub is a development from the Morden Research Centre in Morden, Manitoba, which makes this shrub very adaptable to colder climates. The above image is the one that I planted in 2008 and was eaten to a stub by the deer.

To give an update: Even though the deer enjoyed this shrub during the fall months, this Golden Glow has re-grown beautifully and is now a huge magnificent shrub.

The Morden Research Centre is about a 2 hours drive south from Winnipeg, Manitoba (my home city). The centre also boasts the creation of the Morden Hardy Roses.

The Golden Glow shrub exhibits traits similar to the Sutherland Golden but with improved form and color. The leaf coloring is a golden lime green. The branching is denser and overall size is slightly smaller. The leaves remind me of a Japanese Maple, which I love, but is zoned for a 6 climate. Ergo, I have planted three of the Elders so far.

How to grow the Elder

I have one shrub planted in full sun and two planted in a part sun location. All three seem to enjoy the amount of sun received.

The only pest so far has been the stem borer. At first I thought that the harsh wind had damaged the stems, but on a closer look I noticed the perfectly rounded holes with darkend edges. Many times there is a 'sawdust' type of dust around the holes.

While my Elder did recover, I did lose a few of the major stems to the larvae boring its way down the inside of the stem to the crown. The stems eventually wilt and die. This usually happens in mid May to early June.

After discovering the bore holes, I cut off the affected stems and sprayed the inside (hollow) stems with insecticidal soap. This seemed to do the trick as the shrub recovered nicely and many additional stems have re-grown. However, be aware that the borer lays its eggs in the soil and over winters. I will need to be proactive every spring.

This shrubs grows rather quickly and makes a great mid sized shrub for the center section of any flowerbed.

Great companion plants: Dogwood Shrub, Dwarf Korean Lilac, Becky Shasta Daisy or the Euonymus Emerald Gold.

Check out my Site Index Page for a listing of additional annuals and perennials to plant in your flower garden design.

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