April 22, 2012 -- Austrian winter peas

I thought this post would be easy, because I was out early picking flowers to use for an event on Tuesday. I was out (almost before first light) gathering snapdragons, peonies, etc. before the rain could shred them.

However: the flower that interested me most was the one I had fewest of: the flowers of the Austrian winter pea. This is a plant that I use as a cover crop (not as an ornamental or edible), but this spring it has been both gorgeous and edible! (A friend alerted me to the fact that its leaves and tendrils taste like early peas!) Next weekend it will, undoubtedly, be full of blooms, but this weekend, its blooms were scarce, and I harvested them as if they were gold. I wanted to make the point that they were more valuable to me than peony blossoms, but my photos don't quite show that. Trust me: at this moment in time, I'd give 10 peony blossoms for one more Austrain winter pea blossom.