Sweet Acacia

This tender Mediterranean tree is good for conservatories or bright windows indoors, where its fragrant flowers perfume the air in late winter and early spring. Called by Jefferson "the most delicious flowering shrub in the world,"¹ he also felt that Sweet Acacia was "the only plant besides the Orange that I would take the trouble of nursing in a green house." Its very sweetly fragrant flowers -- which resemble small, fuzzy yellow pompoms -- cover the stems of the plant and bloom in late winter/early spring. A curious contradiction about the plant is that while its flowers are so sweet, its roots give off an offensive smell when disturbed.

In Bloom at Monticello is made possible by support from The Richard D. and Carolyn W. Jacques Foundation.