Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
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Plant · P-381
Mayhaw
Crataegus opaca
Mayhaw is a small thorny tree of southeastern wetlands, at home in low wet woods and creek and river bottoms where most fruit trees would drown. Its small, acid, juicy fruit ripens in a rush every May and is the reason anyone plants it - simmered down into the tart jelly that carries its name, plus jam and wine. It blooms strikingly early, in February and March, which means a late freeze is the main threat to the crop rather than heat or drought. Few birds bother with the fruit, so what is not picked hangs on the branch and feeds wildlife for weeks.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun · Partial Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 7–9
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Well-Drained · Moderate · Moist · Wet
Vertical layer
Sub-Canopy- Soil pH
- 5–6.5
- Plant type
- Deciduous Tree
- Mature height
- 20–30 ft
- Mature spread
- 15–30 ft
- Plant spacing
- 15–20 ft
- Root type
- Not yet recorded
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
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The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
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