Elderberries Plants Are Blossoming

Some people have horrible commutes; highways clogged with cars or slow-moving traffic even with speed limits posted at 70 miles an hour. My time spent traveling from St. Matthews from Sumter is almost always a delight as I pass fields filled with row crops growing vigorously on Fort Motte, red -clay enriched soils. Then I cross the Congaree and head into a long flat traverse with more fields and woodlands until I descend into the Wateree flood plain. That last leg before I head up to the Stateburg-Wedgefield intersection is spectacular in places where there are large stands of elderberry bushes six to eight feet tall. These semi-woody perennial plants with their bold, textured leaves are now topped with broad flower heads filled with hundreds of small white blossoms, destined to become tasty dark purple fruits.