My bonny yew tree, tell me what did you see ?

[venta]

Briefly ignoring any hayfever issues, for the moment...

Anyone who waxes lyrical about the scent of blossom in the spring air is not standing near a hawthorn tree. Fact.

Comments

[venta.livejournal.com]

Really ? Hawthorn always smells distresslingly lavatorial to me.

Not sure I've ever wittingly eaten haws, though. Do they taste like the flowers smell ?

[serpentstar.livejournal.com]

No -- they are quite odd-tasting, and have a hard centre that needs to be spat out, but they don't particularly taste like the flowers smell.

They're a traditional heart tonic (and one that has some clinical research to back that up), so I don't usually eat more than a handful in one day.

You can eat the leaves, too -- those are a lot tastier (though you probably want to steam them lightly if you pick them any time of year other than spring, as they get quite bitter).

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Mm, hawthorn leaves when just out of the bud are rather nice. But, like venta, I find the blossom smells strongly of wee. Maybe it's one of those genetic things, like the effect of asparagus.

[venta.livejournal.com]

I only recently found out about the asparagus thing (thank you, QI, where would we be without you) - I'd always assumed it was a ridiculous old wives tale because asparagus has no noticeable effect on me.

At least, it's not noticeable to me, and I've never tried inviting anyone else in for a sniff!

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Just think how many other interesting smells you might be obliviously emitting!