E. L. Powell, Author
Reading and Writing All Sorts
My New Hawthorn Sapling, courtesy of @WoodlandTrust
Well, it’s not quite that one but one day, I have high hopes for this little beauty that arrived this morning.
I want my garden to be native where at all possible and this is the start. Inexpensive and seeded in the UK to help eliminate any possible nasties, the Woodland Trust sell inexpensive garden and hedging trees at the click of a button – see HERE
I already have a partly-wild garden, dandelions and buttercups abound, worms, insects, bats and I have filmed two visiting hedgehogs this year; I have high hopes for them as I had hoglets visiting with mum last year. This is no countryside garden – I live in a new build (3yrs old now) on a brownfield site so trying to nurture the fragile ecosystem and so far, so good 🙂
The Hawthorn is known for its ancient healing properties, myths and folklore. It is an original Ogham Tree, allegedly used by the Druids for a tonic; a guardian of holy wells, an ancient Pagan symbol of fertility and associations with May Day. It supports over 300 insects, nesting sites and a rich diet for birds as well as the leaves, buds and flowers being edible for humans. Although it has its darker side too; a lone Hawthorn in a field represents a faery portal and woebetide anyone who damages, harms or cuts down a hawthorn as tragedy is bound to follow! What may have started this myth and a possible reason it was feared during the medieval era due to the smell of the flowers resembling the Plague is:
Botanists later learned that the chemical trimethylamine in hawthorn blossom is also one of the first chemicals formed in decaying animal tissue, so it is not surprising that hawthorn flowers are associated with death. – The Woodland Trust.
Personally, I love the heady smell! Nature’s whiffs and foibles – it’s good for our mental health and sustaining a connection to nature.
The fair maid who, on the first of May,
Goes to the fields at break of day,
And bathes in dew from the hawthorn tree,
Will ever be strong and handsome be
― Olde English Rhyme
Sources:
Woodland Trust
http://www.ecoenchantments.co.uk
E. L. Powell, Author 