If heaven has a scent, it will be that of the Black Locust blossom. Cup a bunch in your hands, close your eyes, inhale, and that smell will transport you someplace else whilst making your knees weak. It really is that wonderful.

I used to sneak onto the Albany municipal golf course in the evenings after they'd closed the clubhouse and get in 9 holes before dark (yeah, yeah, yeah...I know, but I was a broke student). A lot of that course had groves of black locusts and in the springtime, when they'd blossom, the smell was just unbelievable. I could spend hours out there.

I also worked weekends at a little hospital ER upstate. One of the respiratory therapists there was a Polish immigrant who was a beekeeper. He would bring in black locust honey and it was hands down the best honey I have ever had to this day.

When I started ranching bees, one of the first things I did was plant some black locust trees. They were three foot long bare root dead looking sticks when I put them in the ground, and this is what they look like now after only five years. Roughly 15 feet tall. They grow like weeds.


I'm told they spread pretty readily, and I'm already seeing young sprouts starting to come up near the established trees. Hopefully, in a few years, I'll have my own little grove going. I just have to keep the fargin deer away from them.

Unfortunately, they don't blossom every year. What I've seen is they put up more and more blossoms each year until the trees are covered with them, and then the following year there are none. Then the cycle starts again. I had none last year, and was expecting them to start coming back this year. We've had a particularly cool and wet spring though, and only one of my trees produced any blossoms...and very late. To say that I'm disappointed is an understatement, but I'm happy that I got to smell that wonderful scent again this year, even if only a little bit.


Not sure why I posted this, but if you ever get a chance to smell those blossoms or taste the honey from them, jump at it.

We have them around here and make good fence posts which is what they are known for as never rotting. Some say they are good for 60 + years.

Black locust is my favorite honey. I don’t tell anybody my source because it’s scarce.

How to recognize trees from quite a long way away ...

I love your love for these trees and the smell. My favorite smell is orchids, and similar hosta flowers and lily of the valley. I hope Black Locust blossoms smell even better.

I have a bunch of new ones growing on the hill beside my house (new construction 4 years ago).

I am not a fan of the thorns on them. Didn't notice the blossoms. Maybe too young to have them. But I will check it out.

I do a lot of BBQ and one reason I didn't buy wood from local firewood places was they didn't ID the wood and could have a lot of black locust. My understanding it has a toxin in the wood that can create an acrid flavor if used in BBQ.

Lucky to now have enough oak and cherry trees on my property to not have to rely on local places.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
I am not a fan of the thorns on them.

Yep. Them thorns are needle sharp.

And yeah, you don't want to use the wood for smoking food. While a hard wood that you would think would be good, it has toxins in it (as does the bark, leaves, and seed pods). It is supposedly great firewood, however, and as 41 mentioned, works great for fence posts as it is resistant to rotting.

We have a two large ones in the back next to the creek, and four or five smaller ones that attack me when I'm mowing.

We have locust fence posts that I know have been in the ground for about 50 years.

Great post! I know exactly what you mean and totally agree! Nothing like a nice paddle on the canal when the locust trees are all in bloom.
They also are excellent for firewood. Heavy, dense and when seasoned make great fires (locust wood has a high btu content).

Re: smells .
I miss the orange trees in AZ.

In the Midwest some will pay extra for black locust fire wood.
Its among the top six, for people with money to spend (burn)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bendable,

One of my favorite trees. I remember the first time I came to Cincinnati and was driving on the northern part of I-275 and could smell black locust in bloom on the interstate in one location that had a large stand close to the highway.

I consider locust to be a weed. It spreads like fire and will overwhelm an area with saplings in a few years, choking off what was a nice open understory. The thorns on twigs falling from the mature trees are a bane to tires. Years ago I did an all out assault on the saplings and I do an annual walk through with a tank sprayer to keep new ones in check. If you just chop the things they sprout back with multiple shoots and become sort of bushy.

Thinking about the way the smell is described makes me wonder about a certain springtime smell that I never figured out the source. Often I’ll smell it as I’m walking or even driving slow with open windows. Only way I can describe it is I want to keep breathing in that smell as much as I can. It’s incredible. Perhaps it’s black locust.

Frayedends,
You are so right about the thorns, they are seriously sharp. I have two boxes of them that I use on some of my vessels. For those that have never seen the thorns, see below.

quote:

Originally posted by jed7s9b:
I consider locust to be a weed. It spreads like fire and will overwhelm an area with saplings in a few years, choking off what was a nice open understory. The thorns on twigs falling from the mature trees are a bane to tires. Years ago I did an all out assault on the saplings and I do an annual walk through with a tank sprayer to keep new ones in check. If you just chop the things they sprout back with multiple shoots and become sort of bushy.

They are doing this sort of growth on the hill beside my house. I don't mind as it provides some extra privacy.

This thread brought back memories of black locust trees in my parents backyard. Both the blessings and curses of those trees as several commenters have observed. No one has noted the thick blanket of dead blossoms lying on the ground like a heavy snowfall. It was my job to sweep the patio.

Dad loved one large tree so much that after it blew over in a summer storm he used his backhoe to upright it and anchor it with cables until it fully re-rooted. It lived many years, reblossuming every spring. It may still be standing.

Blossom time! It's going to be a massive bloom this year as my trees are just covered with new blossoms. Not many have opened yet, but when they do I'm going to put a chair out there, sit, and just...smell. The next few weeks is going to be wonderful.

To paraphrase Crocodile Dundee, "Now, I ain't putting down your locust trees, but there is no sweeter smell on God's earth than the aroma from Honey Suckles on a warm southern summer evening!"

(I do gotta admit that the locust blossoms are something special, too!)

Thanks for the reminder. I haven’t ordered locust honey for several years now. Sounds like this will be a banner year to order some.

Yeah, my bees are buzzing around them just waiting to attack. It's going to be a good honey year.

And I agree Southern Rebel, honeysuckles are pretty special too.