Yeah, it's one of the most popular honey people buy. But there are so many, with different tastes and properties : there's a hospital in south-east France (Provence) that uses wild thyme honey as a medicine to heal wounds. And they're not "fakeboek" or "tvidder" mad scientists, it's very serious. Incidently, I mentioned "leech" in another post. When a friend's boyfriend had an accident and he had to have his thumb sewen again, she told me that they had put some leech on his wound. At first I couldn't believe it, but it's not so uncommon, they help sucking out the "pus" and keep the wound clean.
After reading posts by pmurphy, Nik and AlainK, I think I may be right about the identity of the gnarled tree pmuphy photographed. We always called them 'Acacia' when I was growing up in Burnaby and they grew from seed everywhere. Other common names are Locust and Black Locust. I remember their fragrant flowers. Funny thing though, when I was looking for more information about them online just now, many directed to poisonous plant websites - so can that be the same tree Nik and AlainK is talking about? Guide to Poisonous Plants – College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences – Colorado State University
It is the same tree. And I am still alive and well in my late forties. I also ate many apricot kernels growing up... They are also delicious, better than almonds. The acacia honey is fantastic!
It's apparently the same tree, but I've never ever heard of any poisoning or even inconvenient with Robinia pseudoacacia, including people whose mother had made the doughnuts I mentioned before. "The bark and seeds contain the highest levels" : I suppose that if you chewed the bark of an oak, it would be about the same, but who would ?...
Yes, and as everyone knows, they contain cyanide. Wild cherries (with the bones!) in alcohol and a bit of sugar was something my Mum would make each year and that we would have on special occasions, Christmas, New Year, etc.
My mother and grandmothers did the same but with sour cherries. The alcohol was consumed as aperitif, the fruit (with the pits removed after the soaking) used in desserts. Sour cherries are one of the fruits I never see in grocery stores around here, another one the mirabelle plums. I remember a soup in late spring (numerous times every year) made with whole green plums. It was delicious. The ripened fruit was used for many things, compote, preserve, marmalade, etc., but there was always so much of it... most of it ended up fermented for brandy. Yet, in the stores here there are numerous varieties of hybrids between plums and apricots but not the simple stuff. Go figure...
What I call "wild cherries" is sour. I don't know if it's the same species in N. America, but here it's native to most of France, even below the Loire. It's quite invasive : I have a couple that started from roots from my neighbour, some 25 metres away (about 25 yards). when I'm in the garden and they're ripe, I love to pick one when it's still on the tree. Most of the time the bone sticks to the stem. Very refreshing.
Some of our small corner grocery stores get sour cherries (pie cherries) very briefly. The store near me that gets them is closed for renovations this year. I only buy them fresh when it's been long enough that I forget what a pain they are to remove the pits from.
I realize I'm helping take this thread off on a tangent but I cannot not comment about the apricot kernels. My mother jarred dozens of peaches every year as I well recall and she always included a few 'almonds' from the pits. May be she thought they enhanced the flavour somehow. We were warned though not to eat those kernels because they were supposed to be, at the least, indigestible. What a waste!
Here's a Robinia pseudoacacia at Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park. It's hosting a few other things. I'm not sure why the Park Board planted this grove next to it.
I mentioned earlier that Robinia pseudoacacia grows from seed but also propagates from suckers. It may be the the Park Board did not actually plant a grove so much as it introduced it. Where I had it growing in my Burnaby garden, it sent up suckers for years and years even after it was cut down.
I can't find any photos of these from when I first saw them, but I had the idea from the start that they were planted. It could be that I got it wrong, and these were just the ones they didn't remove. While I was looking, I came across this R. pseudoacacia at VanDusen Botanical Garden.
Sequeing yet again, I would be interested in a thread that exposes and challenges the concept of toxic plants. This has been under discussion often lately on these forums - from Oleander to Pseudoacacia to Sambucus. I think that websites that list toxic or poisonous plants simply copy what others have written without confirming the truth of individual threats. Who is going to take a chance if a plant is poisonous or not, right? Another example is the poinsettia which "is often considered deadly. That's wrong. Poinsettia can be irritating but it is not fatal if eaten. If children and pets eat it, they can develop a mouth rash and stomach upset. The sap can cause a skin rash, too." Poinsettia Plant I'm not seriously advocating for a thread that questions the toxicity of plants, given that the UBC Forums is such a public and well-respected source of information but I do think serious gardeners should seriously question the long-standing warnings we are given about poisonous plants. Each deserves individual analysis and consideration.
In our woodland this morning we were greeted by our native wild primrose. Such a lovely sight on the first morning of official Summertime here in the UK and with the lockdown easing from tomorrow, all is now well.
Another day at the dog park and lots of color starting to show... Flowering currant (these are everywhere in the park) Flowering currant Oregon grape Ornamental plum of some variety and Indian plum in the background - there are lots of ornamental plum scattered throughout the park, some have bronze leaves and some have green but I doubt if any were deliberately planted Last image is a variety of small plants growing in an upended culvert that has been filled with dirt...I think it makes a great planter.
It's funny that earlier today someone from England wanted this ID'd on the forum. What a coincidence !! Very cheerful photos btw P.
Back to the dog park this morning to see the damage from last night's wind storm....lots of trees down. But one bright little note, a hawthorn starting to leaf out with last fall's fruit still on the branches. Oh, and the "mountains" were back with snow on them :)
You sure wouldn't want to have been walking there while the wind was blowing! We had quite a few branches down but not any trees so far as I can tell. The 'mountain' photo is amazing.
We always check the weather on iffy days. The south side of our regular walk is on a hill above the Fraser River and there are several open areas where there is nothing to stop the wind. If there are wind warnings we avoid this section or go elsewhere entirely. But surprisingly the joined "twin trees" (which are in one of these open areas and not that healthy) are still standing.
It is so lovely to be able to walk further than just a few miles. We have missed it so much. So this morning we did a nice circular route of 12 miles to get ourselves back into it and captured this wonderful Salix grey willow getting ready to produce it's leaves in the rather warm sun for this time of year. Along the walk the river was twinkling in the sunshine and a pretty thatched cottage set the scene of where we were. It is another part of the Itchen, of you hadn't guessed.
One of the things we wanted to look for on our walk this morning was some vivid colours, as there are a lot of whites, pinks and pale yellows out atm. When I saw this Berberis darwinii, I thought that's the one for this thread today. It is on it's own and fairly close to houses, so might be a volunteer. But it is definatly growing wild and unkempt.
I've been wanting Berberis darwinii for 2 years now since seeing it in a garden nearby. I asked the owner if I could have a cutting when he pruned it (he's a member of a garden club I belong to) but he must have forgotten. None of the garden centres I've contacted carry it or are able to bring it in. So I guess I'll have to settle for another orangey variety. Darwinii is in a class by itself though and your beautiful photos remind me of how much I admire it.