Blackthorn, with its sharp thorns, can form dense impenetrable thickets. The flowers appear well before the leaves, producing drifts of white in hedgerows. Blackthorn is usually one of the first flowers of spring, appearing as early as March, but following the cold winter of 2013 the flowers were delayed until late April/early May.
The dark-purple sloe berries taste very bitter, and are used to make sloe gin. The sloe yield can be highly variable: 2009 was an exceptionally good year.

Overlapping flowers		Pink-tinged buds