‘Never cast a clout till May is out.” When this was trumped up by my grandmother as an excuse for making me wear a coat in warm weather I wrongly assumed it was the month of May I had to blame for being trussed up like a duck. But it is May blossom, or hawthorn, that cake-scented, creamy concoction that arrives on the crest of summer that you have to wait for before being allowed to disrobe. In May, hawthorn is everywhere, in hedges and standing as solitary sentinels in fields, and it’s so much softer that the chilly white of blackthorn.

Hawthorn is a tree I love from beginning to end. In spring, the fresh-green foliage is one of the most heart-warming. Later, the blossom arrives and then as summer ends red haws stud the branches, the same colour as quarry-tile red. In winter, the stunted trees, often shaped by the wind, produce an intricate, dark sculpture. We have two native species, Crataegus monogyna (hawthorn) and C. laevigata (the Midland thorn). There are small differences in form and Midland thorn is the commoner in the heart of England. C. laevigata (our Midland thorn) has lobed leaves with much shallower indentations, twin stigmas and twin seeds in the berry. The easiest way to find out which is which is to split a fruit in autumn and seek out the two seeds.

Hawthorns (or thorns) must always have been plentiful because thorn is the most common constituent in British place names. Then when enclosure happened, between 1750 and 1850, 200,000 miles of hawthorn hedges were planted. The name ‘Haw’ derives from ‘hage’, the Old English for ‘hedge’. Incidentally, my cottage is on pre-enclosure maps and simply labelled “the hovel in the waste”. Except the word waste is written as wafte. It’s quite a thought, living in a hovel and standards are slipping. Hawthorn was used medicinally particularly for heart problems. The bark was infused and was said to bring down fever. The berries prevented diarrhoea and in Russia berries were given to patients suffering from amoebic dysentery.

It was also a sacred tree associated with rebirth and May rites. The Maypole is not as innocent as you thought – it’s a phallic symbol.

Our native thorns attract a lot of insect species and they rate fourth place in the following list of natives put together by The Woodland Trust. Oak (pedunculate and sessile) 284, Willow 266, Birch (silver and downy) 229, Hawthorn 149, Blackthorn 109, Poplar 97, Crab Apple 93, Alder 90, Elm 82, Hazel 73, Beech 64, Ash 4, Lime 37, Hornbeam 31, Rowan 28, Field Maple 26 and Yew 4. It is desirable to attract insect life to pull in bird life. So if hedging is needed the hawthorn is perfect.

There is a lovely double form of Midland hawthorn called C. laevigata ‘Paul’s Scarlet’ (pictured) and the rose-pink double flowers emerge in mid-May in most years. This small, slow-growing tree is perfect for a country garden, or in a town garden aiming to recreate the countryside. It can be grown on a variety of soils or in exposed positions. Hawthorns are also pollution tolerant.

Available from Barcham Trees – tel. 01353 720 950 (www.barcham.co.uk).