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Name That Plant!

Two Mystery Plants/Shrubs

9 years ago

Hi, all,

We moved into a house in Northern New York on the outskirts of the Adirondack park last fall, so this spring, I'm running around like a fool trying to figure out what all the plants are. I think we have a wild lilac bush growing in the backyard (see my first pic).

But in that tangle of a bush, I've found two other soon-to-flower plants, and I'm not sure what they are. One has long conical groups of buds forming--looks like the flowers will be white (see pic of Mystery Plant 1). The other has a round clump of flower buds--also looks like they'll be white. It also has some pretty long thorns on it. (See pics of Mystery Plant 2).

Lilac?
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Mystery Plant 1:
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Mystery Plant 2 Buds:
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Mystery Plant 2 Leaves:
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Mystery Plant 2 Thorns:
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Any help identifying these would be much appreciated!

This post was edited by lyssalea on Tue, May 20, 14 at 12:52

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Comments (10)

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
9 years ago
We're very willing to help but please could you copy and paste the html codes from your pictures on Photobucket. It is very cumbersome coying and pasting all those urls and then going back and forth between screens to reply.
lyssalea
Original Author
9 years ago
Absolutely! Already done. My apologies for the mix-up. It's been quite some time since I last posted, and I'd forgotten the procedure!
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Iris GW
9 years ago
First mystery looks like Prunus serotina, native black cherry. Second one appears to be a Crataegus (Hawthorn).
lyssalea
Original Author
9 years ago
Oh, thank you! I'd spent so long googling images that my head was spinning. I'd guess the Hawthorn, but the leaves hadn't looked quite right to me,

So now I have two trees growing in the middle of a lilac bush, lol. What a jumble. They both look like they grow into very pretty mature trees. Do you suppose it's worth it to try and extract them and transplant them elsewhere? Or would I just damage the root systems of all of them in the attempt?
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
9 years ago
i dont replant trees that gratuitously plant themselves in my garden.. via the digestive tract of a bird [after all.. that is why they are in the middle of the lilac] ...

and usually... there are much better cultivars to be had ...

just because something is free.. doesnt make it good ...

if you want a hawthorn.. then pay to get a spectacular one...

and the cherry tree... heck.. if you find one.. you will probably be finding hundreds more ...and if momma is anywhere near.. the birds will start bombing your car and house with purple poops ... oh yeah.. ..

cut both near the ground and drip 100% round up or stumpkiller.. on the cut... and leave the lilac be ...

ken
Iris GW
9 years ago
Ken's opinion is just that ... an opinion! If you were to try and move any of them, I'd wait until fall to do it.
lyssalea
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks, all! I really appreciate the help. :)
calliope
9 years ago
Yes, Ken can be very helpful, as well as entertaining, but those of us on the tree forum knows he has his favs and his not so favs where trees are concerned. I would salvage the hawthorn, underused in the U.S. and they can be easy to grow and quite ornamental. One of prettiest blooming trees this spring was a hawthorn.
donna_in_sask
9 years ago
Well, I bought my hawthorn...it suckers all over the place and is a disease magnet (Cedar Hawthorn Rust). Fights back too when you go to prune it. I regret planting it.
calliope
9 years ago
I have several. Two are rather common ones, purchased on the cheap and really are just now coming into their own as well-behaved and pretty, but a third is a more uncommon variety and it has always been a delight. It was so loaded with honeybees and other pollinators this spring, you could hear it as you approached, humming. No suckering, and very little pruning to shape it.

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