I distinctly remember my first close encounter with a hawthorn.
I was looking for the perfect pair of trees to hang my hammock between, in the backyard of my new house, and I spotted the right location between some small but sturdy flowering trees.
I started hanging up the hammock, dreaming of reading a book below the gentle hum of the bees feeding on the pretty white and pink blossoms, when I felt a searing pain in my arm.
It wasn’t a bee defending itself, but a vicious thorn tearing through my flesh.
And to me, that perfectly encapsulated the wonders and drawbacks of growing hawthorns. They’re beautiful, but they also have thorns that can grow several inches long.
It’s definitely a “look but don’t touch” kind of situation.
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My painful first encounter aside, hawthorns are actually excellent to keep around.
They’re pollinator magnets, particularly for native bees, moths, and butterflies, and many people grow them in orchards to help improve pollination.
You can find thornless versions, by the way, and you can even use the thorned types to your advantage.
Then there are the blossoms. The flowers are pungently sweet-scented and extremely attractive – both to humans and animals. They look somewhat like apple blossoms, so if you’re a fan of those, you’ll love hawthorns.
The trees are also beloved nesting sites for birds. The thorns provide them with protection and the vibrant fall berries are a nourishing food source.
If you’ve ever witnessed cedar waxwings migrating through the area, they always stop and feed on a hawthorn tree before moving on.
The fruits of these apple
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