Hawthorn Berries Grow In Arizona – Just when I thought that there were no fruits this year, I find an exception to the rule. While the usual traditional cannibals were terrible this year with the dreaded No Show Summer that mostly rained outside (and continues to this day), there were some surprises today.
Viburnum opulus Woodland Shrub-like tree. Examples of common names Olvan (Swedish) – Guelder-rose (Dutch) – European Cranberry (British)
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Hawthorn Berries Grow In Arizona
This tree like a shrub I have never seen is more than six or seven feet tall here often suckling or spreading cones forming small patches near my Trolley stand which has always been an eye-catcher not only at this time of the year with fruit, but even in the spring or in flower. Its leaves are beautiful and somewhat maple in shape and appearance. I tasted it last year and this year, but it is a little bit bitter. I’m not dead so it’s not poisonous. Apparently here it is used for flavoring and some make jelly from it. It is spread by the use of birds as food. I really want to collect some berries and propagate, but more likely you will find some roots to cut and create some clones that will be faster in propagation. It would be a perfect background plant along my back fence.
Hawberry Images, Stock Photos & Vectors
This is one of the most popular plants. These bunches on the left in the picture were not fully ripe. People here are crazy about the Elderberry juice (Saft) here, the Elderberry Jelly or Jam (Sylt) and just getting used to the fresh taste of these berry clusters. I have never seen this in all my years growing up in Southern California where Mexican Elderberry is ubiquitous and very productive. A drink is also made from the flowers in spring. This tree is found in the forest wherever the forest opens up along the cliffs.
People in Southern California don’t care about the types of Elderberry found there. But I know they see it everywhere. But success took a while. The picture above shows it in combination with chaparral. I use to look it up looking for Native American Village sites in San Diego Co. The and the Prickly Pear Cactus were giving away as there is no doubt that many of both of these abundances are no doubt the result of the spread by people. Both are often found around Metate grinding holes in granite slabs. I have always found the fruitiness of both Mexican and European Elderberry very similar. In fact I believe that the Elderberry of Mexico is more productive as a result of being exposed to the outside of many here that are formed more by the legs and competition of light forests. I didn’t want to digress here, but I was determined to let people know what gems are in the southwest of their garden. (* See Bottom Page)
I have to admit that I’m not sure what this little tree in the forest is, but there were two separate ones that each year have different berries as seen below.
Many will know this plant. There are many species native to North America and Europe. Commonly used to create Hedgerows it blooms with white flowers in the spring and these deep red berries in the fall. It is surprising that a well-known plant is used by Herbalists who make a mild heart tonic that can improve the circulatory system of a person. There are countless other uses of this plant. It is said that for someone with heart problems, a pound of Hawthorn is worth a pound of medicine. It is surprising how much information about these amazing plants has been found over the centuries and at the same time has been lost as people put their trust and confidence in one of the technologies that is causing the World many health problems. There is a Vietnamese shop here that sells a lot of Asian food here in Gothenburg. One of my favorites is fruit leather made with Hawthorn berries.
Buy Nature’s Way
The flowers below were in the neighbor’s place where we live and the top going down to the gardens of another development. The front of the plant was mostly packed with berries while the other plant was mostly flowers with no fruit. These are some of the edible flowers and berry plants. The berries taste like flowers if you pick one and pull on the stem to reveal the sweet nectar dripping. As a fun educational sidebar, the Audubon Society posted some research on how invasive honeysuckle has changed the color of the feathers of birds that feed on these amazing berries. It helped us to understand the importance of nutrition and that the great variety in different species around the world is done by epigenetic processes as opposed to the long belief in luck and spontaneous evolution in creating different species.
I don’t really know what this shrub is but it is used as an ornamental in commercial areas here. This is at the Eketregatan (Oak Tree Drive) Trolley Stop. I once saw a young woman who was busy catching the bus and stopped to pick up those clusters and put one in her mouth. That got me thinking so I did the same and they weren’t bad. Now he wasn’t really Swedish and I find many immigrants will eat fruit here. Near my house in the forest you will see African Immigrant children playing with Swedish children showing them which bush foods are safe to eat and which are not. Leave it to the Africans to know their Bush food, even in another country. *smile*
I know this was a berry page but I have to point out some beautiful flowers that are blooming with a vengeance despite the noisy weather here. I couldn’t leave it.
These last two shots are of a Magpie and a Jackdaw bird. Both of these birds were smaller than the usual sizes of their species. They all looked a little different in some way and the color of the feathers was not as bright and sharp as I had ever seen. But they stuck together like friends, helping each other to scratch the ground and find food. Both groups of birds have large, well-fed members of their families.
Medicinal Plants Of The Mountain West
Both of them stayed close and followed each other, they wanted to meet each other. The photos do not do the character justice. I really liked the movie as it was so weird and yet so entertaining. I felt sorry for them because there is no doubt that they may have been rejected by their own people, but they found each other because of friendship and they had the same situation. Many animals have cooperative behavior at times in order to survive. Especially in things like hunting and gathering food where each has a technical skill that the other lacks. Maybe this is what was happening here. In any case, I wished I had a video camera at the time to capture and record this event.
No picture really does justice to what I saw and saw. In fact when I stopped at first the presence of their connection caught my eye, or really scared me. They were only 3 feet away. I just got back from grocery shopping on my way back from the Trolley and had to take my camera out again. At that time they continued. On a last minute note here for West Gardeners. I have to go back to the Mexican Elderberry as a great place and wildlife, even IF you don’t want to eat it. Here is an example of a large southwestern landscape where Mexican Elderberry fits in well. * Text from above
It is usually a shrubby to understory tree that can be well formed into a small tree with a typical umbrella style pattern. Not bad for a Native Organic Garden or Landscape Theme.species and hybrids) are mostly low-growing, evergreen, flowering shrubs. With a compact growth habit, they are ideal low-maintenance plants for use in small gardens and foundation plantings.
Most seeds grow between three and six meters in length and are about the same in width. Few large shrubs can be trained to the shape of a small tree.
Nature And Wildlife Discovery Of Pueblo: Nature’s Classroom: Edible And Medicinal Plants
Indian hawthorns are cultivated for their attractive, compact shape and clusters of flowers. Fragrant, pink or white crabapple-like flowers open in clusters above the leaves between April and May. Bluish-black berries appear in late summer and continue into winter. The dark green leathery leaves are rounded, about two to three inches long, turning purple in winter.
The compact cultivars of Indian hawthorn are suitable for use as foundation shrubs, while the larger cultivars can be used for hedges, large plantings or screening.
Indian hawthorns are sensitive to cold injury and should be placed in protected areas if grown in upper South Carolina.
Plants need sun, although they will grow indoors