Hawthorn Hedge.

Wish me joy!!

Finally after 7 yrs I have a few sp**** blossoms on my Hawthorns!
Yippeeeeeee

http://img80.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00397zk.jpg

http://img80.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00142jt.jpg


Brian

 

The word was s p a r s e

I see the censor thinks the last four letters are rude!

bt

 

I have two hawthorn trees one front one back and mine have allways flowered..even though we cut one back hard last year as it was hanging in the street ..its still ready to flower this year..mine are late flowering this year because of the weather..I have a lovely recipe for hawthorn brandy if anyone is interested...

 

Hawthorn is wonderful. It is also known as the May Tree and a sure indicator of warmer days. I never plant out tender plants until the May is in flower. The old rhyme refers to the May blossom and not to the month:

Cast ne'er a clout
Till May is out

The wild form comes in white and pink or a combination as shown here:


Then there is a beautiful garden variety with double flowers called Paul's Scarlet:


The hawthorn features widely in folklore as a magical and protective tree. But it is considered bad luck to bring its blossom indoors. Few would want to as its scent is pretty unpleasant and has been likened to "cat's pee"

 

Brian. I only recently learnt that plants have two main phases in their life - Juvenile and Adult. The Juvenile phase can be different in many ways from the Adult. It can have a different leaf shape, it could have thorns when the adult does not and it generally does not flower. I can't find any information on Hawthorn, but Birch spends 5 - 10 years as a Juvenile, Ash 15 - 20 years, Oak 25 - 30 years, and Beech 30 - 40 years. It is very likely that your hedge is still in the Juvenile phase.

When you take a cutting, you take a clone of the original. And a cutting of a mature plant will still be a mature plant. Consequently you should always buy ornamental trees as cutting - usually grafted onto another rootstock. For instance seed grown Wisteria can take 20 years to flower, but a cutting can flower within 2 or 3 years.

 

Brian congratulations and I know the buzz when they first flower. I planted hawthorne whips that very quickly grew into small trees - but I too waited 8 years until they finally flowered. Worth waiting for though and the birds love the fruit.