Hawthorn berries are a colorful addition for the holidays, if you can get through the thorns! Birds will eat the berries during the winter, and spread the seeds to the frustration of people. English settlers (ignorantly) brought hawthorns to my area over 100 years ago – and we are still cursing them (the English & the hawthorns).
Classic English hedgerows were made of hawthorns. Professional gardeners were needed to weave and maintain the hedgerows. In the new world, there was plenty of wood to make fences, and they were not a full-time job to maintain.
Where I live today, the hawthorn is a significant, noxious and invasive plant.
The large thorns are capable of puncturing a tractor tire.
I have broken a couple pair of garden clippers trying to clip too large a hawthorn stem.
(Not counting all the scratches I have endured:-)
* * * * *
I cannot think of anything negative to say about Snowberries.
This native plant lives along the seasonal and year-long creeks here.
Beautiful white berries stand out among the thickets and stems of deciduous bushes.
(Please excuse my less-than-stellar photography, as my camera lens did not know that I wanted it to focus on the berries 🙂
* * * * *
Happy Solstice to all.
I love this time of year, as I get to look forward to a touch more minutes of daylight everyday for the next six months.
susansflowers 
December 22, 2016 at 12:22 pm
Happy Solstice to you! I wanted to celebrate by having a Yule log dessert yesterday, but there just wasn’t enough time. Like you, we’re looking forward to having a little more light each day now. I enjoyed your “berries” post. I think I might include a few hawthorn berries in my next winter painting. The bright red spots would add a bit of “zip and zing” to the scene. 🙂
December 22, 2016 at 3:18 pm
Hawthorn berries are not unattractive, but those thorns….
December 22, 2016 at 3:59 pm
Ouch, yes! I just want to paint the bright berries and stay far away from the thorns. 🙂
December 25, 2016 at 5:58 am
Yes!