The garden smells amazing today, and I wish I could transport the scents to you all!
First of all, our wild Robinia (R. pseudoacacia) – also known as False Acacia or in the U.S. I believe Black Locust – is blooming for the first time.
There are in fact several trees, just within our property line, but outside our fence. They had been chopped back by an over-zealous neighbour until we moved here, and finally they have flowered for us.
The fragrance reminds us of the bubblegum we used to get out of little bublegum machines on the streets as children. (Remember them anyone?!). It keeps wafting across the garden and I have to stop and take a deep breath. I brought a little sprig indoors too. 😄
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Then the peonies are beginning to open. I cut a single P. ‘Dancing Butterflies’ for my vase yesterday….
and added some Physocarpus…
…Lady’s Mantle…
…and a few deep pinky red Knautia Macedonica.
It somehow looks quite summery!
And on top of that the elderflowers are out and we celebrated as we do every year with some elderflower pancakes (Hollerküchl in Bavarian) which are a tradition here. You just dunk the flower heads into a pancake batter and put them in a pan with a little oil. Carefully snip off the stems and flip them over. Serve with sugar sprinkled on top.
The final scent is the wild strawberries – mmmmm, they tasted yummy on the pancakes! The scent of wild strawberries is also wafting around the garden.
I wonder if you have any fragrance in your gardens today?
I am joining Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for her Monday meme, where we share something from our gardens and pop it in a vase.
Have a great week, and happy gardening!
Words and Herbs 
I love everything about your vase today, Cathy, including all the gorgeous flowers, and the beautiful vase. And wow, my Elderflower has just bloomed for the first time this week! I am often amazed by how similar the spring and autumn seasons are on both sides of the world. I would like to make elderflower tea, but I thought the flowers needed drying first, but it sounds like you use them fresh.
That IS amazing, that your elder flowers at the same time as ours! I know you can dry them for tea, but we love them fresh best – in pancakes or made into elderflower cordial…. hope to be making some soon! I have a recipe for it from when we lived at our last house: https://wordsandherbs.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/elderflowers-the-fragrance-of-summer/
And I have made liqueur too in the past. Delicious!
I love the graceful drape of your wild Robinia. Wish I knew its fragrance. The peony-and-friends vase is enchanting. Oh, and “Yes, please!” to the elderflower pancakes and strawberries. Happy to see spring is bringing so many nice things your way.
Thank you Susie. It has been such a mixed spring, but it always ends up being glorious! 😃
We have a Texas Mountain Laurel that smells like grape bubble gum. The two would make a great combination. That is a nice seasonal breakfast. Those are really big wild strawberries, I remember much smaller ones from where I grew up in the north.
Oh, that reminds me that I have also smelt a similar laurel flower here. Don’t know what kind it was but also a delicious scent. 😃
How lovely Cathy! Pollinators will be very happy with the abundance. The false acacia makes the best early honey of the year🐝 🍯 💐
I am happy if the bees are happy, but there are only wild ones around here anyway so there won’t be any honey. 😉
A beautiful selection of flowers, Cathy and the pancakes sound divine!
The combination of elderflower and wild strawberries was lovely! I think I might make them again at the weekend! 😉
What a fabulous first vase. Yes Black Locust are native here and quite the tree. The second vase is so lovely with so much from the garden. And elderflower pancakes oh my!!
The pancakes were a real treat, and having the wild strawberries ripen early made for a great combination!
Thanks for the “scentsory” story, Cathy. I could almost smell each element! I was completely unfamiliar with your Robinia/black locust, other than the impression that the trees have a bad reputation in parts of the US. They’re not native here but a tree with white flowers that smell like bubblegum sounds delightful to me. Sadly, my store-bought peonies, received as a gift, have nary any scent at all. Both your vases are lovely and their scent is a major plus. In my garden at the moment, it’s sweet peas and mint bush (Prostanthera ovalifolia) that are providing “scentsory” experiences.
The Robinia are rather invasive here if they get a chance, but most people cut them down before they can get established. They have huge thorns and are poisonous. But they are beautiful in spring and we love them! I don’t grow sweet peas as they just get burnt in the early summer sun and are not worth the bother. But mint grows like mad here….
Nice vases. We do call that Black Locust, it is kind of a weedy tree, I do love the flowers. I love the color combination in the peony vase especially with the blue container. People in Florida make Elderberry flower pancakes, too – I have never tried them. My father tried to make elderberry wine once – a total disaster.
Elderflower liqueur is nice, and I usually make elderflower cordial. 😃 I intended to try making some elderberry juice once, but the birds were already enjoying all the berries and it was so nice to watch them that I decided I didn’t really need the juice anyway! LOL!
My father’s wine making adventures are legendary and not in a good way.
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Wonderful post and arrangement, Cathy. Makes me wish I was there! Yum!
I’m probably making those pancakkes at the weekend again – shame you aren’t near enough to pop in for one! 😆
I’ll check for flights, lol! 🙂
😆🐝
Oh what an interesting mix, Cathy – and I was really intrigued by the black locust flowers which are so similar to wisteria. Seeing your second vase made me conscious how many of my recent vases have been largely single-species – yours is such a lovely combination and the alchemila froth is brilliant for complementing everyting else. Your Hollerküchl sound intriguing – but that’s a lot of sugar on he top! 🤣
Well, there is no sugar IN the pancake, so they do need some on top! Alchemilla is so useful in vases. I only wish it stood up to summer heat better as I usually have to cut it back by July. Does Wisteria smell nice too? I can’t remember last time I was near any!
Wisteria is reputed to be fragrant, or some varieties at least, but I have never been aware f it with mine – although of course it is blooming way above my head!!
😁
I love the mix of flowers you have in the vase, it does feel summery. I look forward to copying your pancake idea, and the wild strawberries look so delicious! mmmm
Enjoy the pancakes and if you can, try the combination with strawberries! 😉
What a charming post Cathy. Your vase is delightful, and many thanks for showing up close the beauty of the False Acacia. I shall try and see if I can get the smell so will be on the look out for trees in flower here. Then there are the elderflower pancakes, which I shall be sure to try.
I hope you do find a False Acacia Noelle. The trees are easily recognizable in early spring here, as they come into leaf fairly late and are initially a very pale green. So compared to all the other foliage they stand out well. And do try the pancakes! 😀
Black locust?! Oh my! It is such an aggressively invasive exotic species here. However, I have also brought in some of its bloom. It is too pretty, too fragrant and too perfectly white to resist. It is like a white wisteria tree. Ninebark is new for us. We just installed about nine last year, so this was their first bloom.
I have several Ninebark shrubs now – just love the foliage and they are really easy to get established here.
The foliage looks ‘distinguished’, like something that has been popular for centuries in Europe or New England, which is very different from Californian style.
The robinia flowers are stunning Cathy. I do remember bubble gum machines but I’m struggling to remember the scent. Our elderflowers are in bloom now and that pancake looks rather yummy indeed 😋
I can recommend the pancakes Anna. 😉 The scent of elderflowers is also wonderful.
I remember the bubble gum machines but not the smell! I’m sure the fragrance from the wild Robinia is fantastic, its flowers are beautiful. I love the peony and the way you’ve built up your arrangement in the vase. I have no talent for flower arranging! If you weren’t so far away I’d pop in to try out those pancakes!
We had the pancakes again yesterday. 😊 And I have made cordial too. It smells wonderful! 😃I often wish my blogging friends were all within driving distance and we could have get togethers and share cuttings etc! Have a lovely week Catherine.
Lovely post, Cathy. Such a happy spring bouquet and the perfect meal to go with it☺️ made some too a few days ago! Have a nice weekend ❣️
Thanks Annette! It was sunny and dry yesterday so we had more pancakes before the rain washes all the flowers out! Have a great week! 😘
sorry to hear that, hope it didn’t do too much damage!