05/19/2026
BLACK LOCUST FLOWER SYRUP
One of the first paintings my mother painted. I have been waiting to get it on a label!
Black locust is both native and invasive depending on where it is. One of my all-time favorite conversations was with the Director of the Hungarian Duna-Ipoly Nemzeti Park amd Svénás Hills. I spent a day hiking these incredible limestone hills speaking in a sort of Latin-English-Hungarian mix about the Black Locust. It was planted all along the Danube River for erosion control, and the trees had taken over many a wooded area. Same thing here, sometimes.
The species is native to two regions in North America, but is considered invasive across the rest of the continent.
A nice way to reduce the seed bank is to not plant it, but also use the sweetly fragrant flowers, remniscent of orange blossoms, for tea, syrup, and jam.
