Acacia trees are in full bloom and right now are covering the hills around Bagni di Lucca.
Bees love the flowers and they make delicious honey.
The flowers are edible. You can dip them in a light batter and fry them. I haven’t tried that but I have eaten one straight from the tree and it tasted a bit like raw peas.
I love the flowers and the smell is heavenly, but they make me sneeze.
i know they are a pest and it is a pity the hillsides are not covered with chestnut, hazelnut, walnut and cherry trees. If you look at old photos of Bagni di Lucca you will see that the hillsides were terraced. Grapevines and vegetables were grown, so the chestnut trees are long gone. The farms were abandoned and acacia grows more quickly than more useful trees, so we are now left with acacia. They are beautiful, but they are a menace…any takers for removing them to start a replanting process?
Bella Bagni di Lucca 
Visiting Bagni di Lucca for the first time in two weeks. I’ve been enjoying your blog for the past few months. I can’t wait to see the blossoms.
I hope you have a great time. If you are staying at Ponte a Serraglio I might see you at Bar Italia sometime. If you look at the top of the page you will see “villages”. There are posts about each of the villages that make up Bagni di Lucca. Click “Eat” to see restaurants in the area.
Acaias are delicious to eat either by themselves or in batter. They also help bees make good honey. The only problem is that they are infesting plants and a bloody (especially if you get one of their thorns in your skin) nuisance to get rid of.
Yes, I know they are a pest. We have to be constantly vigilant at Casa Debbio. They are difficult to kill and take over from better trees such as the local chestnuts. I would prefer that the were not so prolific, but at least they look pretty for a weed.
They are beautiful to look at and delicious to eat, although some people are allergic to them…
The flowers make me sneeze, especially if it is windy and the pollen is blowing about.
I’ve eaten fried zucchini flowers but never the acacias – we have a type that blooms here and their fragrance fills the woods.
I would like to try them cooked. It should be interesting.
Although they are a problem they do look lovely on the hillsides. A nice change from the bare hillsides of winter.
They do look pretty and I love to see the bright colours for spring. Perhaps we could start a campaign to replace them with cherry trees so we could have lovely blossoms and cherries.
I agree with Francis, above, they are a pestilential and painful nuisance, capable of piercing the toughest glove. Please eat them all and let the chestnuts flourish! I suppose their one saving grace is that when the blossoms fall they carpet the less-used lanes like a snowfall. Which looks pretty. I always am reluctant to be the first to crush the blossom under foot or tyre.
I know they are a pest and if I had my way the would all be replaced with something more suitable, but it is not up to me. We have a big problem keeping them under control at Casa Debbio, but we have removed most of them from our property allowing other plants to flourish. I am doing my bit.