The cumulonimbus of the plant world, Sambucus nigra ‘Black Lace’ is here to bring a bolt of drama, contrast, texture and fragrance to the garden, and does so without any element of fuss – just easy, undemanding, peaceful darkness to supercharge other colours around it. It’s an absolute storm of a shrub, not just for its dark mass of lacy foliage, flickering with sparky clusters of pink and white blooms, but for its powerful impact on the garden and ability to rumble on regardless all season long with very little input from you. Whatever you plant it with, the near-black backdrop of this shrub provides shock-factor – any neighbouring plants will glow against this tempest of dark foliage and bring vibrant energy to the space.

Capable of growing up to 3m tall and wide, this popular black elder can be a shrub for a large space, or you can easily prune it to keep it more compact. It doesn’t grow especially quickly so it’s certainly manageable – when it reaches the size you want it to be, just prune excess growth in late autumn or early spring. Flowers appear in summer and they’re a hit with pollinators like bees and butterflies, they have a slight musky fragrance too. For the rest of the season, from spring to autumn, enjoy the maroon-black lacy foliage. Also in autumn this shrub will be dotted with black glossy elderberries which garden birds love to eat. In winter, the branches of this deciduous shrub are bare, soon to grow fresh new leaves the following spring. This shrub is so fantastic that it have been given an RHS Award of Garden Merit – a true seal of approval for plants.