Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. South Carolina roadsides are especially handsome now as the native elderberries are making a spectacular display with their showy clusters of creamy white flowers held on large plants growing vigorously in moist, sunny openings. . Native Americans used the strong exterior wood of these plants for blow guns, tubes, and pipes, and the pithy interior of the stem was a handy substrate for starting fires. When the berries ripened, early people collected the ate or dried the fruits for nutrition and vitamins. Those same deep purple berries were a source for dyes to add color to baskets or animal hides. In the Americas and world-wide, elderberries have been used to treat numerous ailments, from fevers, to coughs, to skin irritations. My favorite remedy is wart removal -rub the wart with a cut elderberry stem, bury the stem and voila! – the wart disappears.