Paul's Scarlet

Paul's Scarlet is one of the finest English hawthorns. The main attraction is the dark pink blossom, often with white centres. Unusually for a hawthorn they are "double" flowers - the extra petals giving a more pronounced display than the single-flowered forms.

The green leaves also turn a plain yellow in autumn, and are dotted with crimson red berries.

Paul's Scarlet grows in a neat tidy fashion, making it a good garden tree.

As with most forms of the species Crataegus laevigata, the branches are protected by short thorns. However the main stem tends to be mostly smooth, with only the occasional thorn.

Growing and Training

If you have rabbits in the vicinity be sure to protect the trees, as rabbits like to eat young hawthorn bark.

If you have purchased a 1-year bare-root hawthorn, cut the main stem at about 1.5m - 1.75m to stimulate side shoots the following year. Pot-grown trees have already had this formative training at the nursery and do not need pruning.

History

Paul's Scarlet was named in the 1860s by William Paul, a Victorian plant breeder. It is a sport of the double-flowered hawthorn Rosea Flora Pleno.

Paul's Scarlet characteristics

• Food usesNot suitable for humans
• PruningLight prune
• Country of originUnited Kingdom
• Fruit colourRed