One of my fondest memories from childhood is enjoying homemade elderberry pie. My Dad, a fantastic pie maker, indulged us regularly in the summer with pies filled with the chewy berries sweetened with sugar.

Then, we moved west when I was about eight. Oh, how I missed elderberry pie. I didn't miss the humidity or the giant bugs of the Midwest.

After a few years, we moved to a home on several acres, and my Dad planted a large garden. He ordered an elderberry plant, the kind we had in Ohio, known as American Elderberry. Also known as Common Elderberry, its scientific name is Sambucus canadensis.

This variety of elderberry plant doesn't grow in the Pacific Northwest, especially in eastern Washington's semi-desert climate. With constant irrigation, the elderberry plant thrived but only...

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