Black Locust Trees Blooming in Southern Ohio

[Josiah]

I first encountered black locust trees when I moved "back to the land" in the Arkansas Ozarks. We had lots of them growing on our farm. For some reason the wood is very rot resistant and so they make ideal fence posts. Their other virtue I didn't recognize until the first Spring when I started smelling something pleasant and sweet. Black locust bloom in the Spring with lavish write flowers that smell a little like lilac. So for a week each Spring the farm just smelled heavenly. Then when we moved to Ohio we again found black locust which grow profusely on the Interstate loop encircling Cincinnati.

 

[Glinda]

This sounds lovely, Josiah. I don't remember black locust trees in northwestern Pa. where I grew up but I do remember lilacs and always loved them. They are one of the many flowering bushes that don't grow well in southern Ca. I hope you enjoy your fragrant spring.

 

[Pappy]

Funny, but I was thinking, dangerous I know, about how many lilac bushes we had on the old homestead.
The minute we walked outside, the air was full of their aroma. The house across the street, from the campground, has a lilac bush and that brought to mind of my childhood days.

 

[ndynt]

Sounds wonderful, Josiah. I have never seen or smelt Black Locust...but, truly miss lilacs. Will not grow in the deep south. Certain strains of Crape Myrtle look like lilacs...but, have no fragrance.

 

[NancyNGA]

We had a small clump of black locust in the back of our property in NE Ohio, and a lilac bush. My neighbor and I used to pretend that clump of trees
was a house.:shrug: But I don't remember blossoms. Guess kids didn't notice things like that so much. I do remember the lilac bush blossoms.

 

[oakapple]

Never heard of the black locust, the blossom looks pretty though and if it smells like a lilac as well, sounds like a good tree to have near the house.It's lilac time here in England now, we have two in the garden a pale lilac and a deeper purple one.They both have great scents.

 

[Josiah]

Never heard of the black locust, the blossom looks pretty though and if it smells like a lilac as well, sounds like a good tree to have near the house.It's lilac time here in England now, we have two in the garden a pale lilac and a deeper purple one.They both have great scents.

Locust trees, there are a number of species including the Honey Locust which has purple flowers all belong to the legume family and consequently have very large seed pods and when these litter the ground they are a bit unsightly. The trees themselves are not as statuesque as for example an oak tree.

 

[Debby]

We had one of those Honey Locust trees. They are the ones with the brilliant chartreuse leaves right?

I coddled the one I planted and it did terrible for the first three years. Hardly any growth, what was there looked pathetic....finally the last fall I was so fed up with it that I threatened it with an axe the following year if it didn't pull up it's socks and seriously, it must have been listening because the next year it started growing and growing and I suddenly realized that I'd planted the darn thing too close to the porch! But it was the most glorious brilliant greeny yellow colour so it was worth waiting for.

 

[oakapple]

All these long blossom tress are lovely, do you have Laburnam trees as well?

 

[oakapple]

near where we live, Laburnams have seeded themselves all the way along a country road and look magnificent.

 

[Josiah]

All these long blossom tress are lovely, do you have Laburnam trees as well?

Hi Josephine, Laburnum is not native to the Americas and although some have been imported they're still quite rare. Looking at pictures of them, they certainly are spectacular. An import from the orient which has become enormously popular is called the golden rain tree and it bears a close resemblance to your golden chain tree.