I was crossing the midlands of Ireland and over to north Clare, and there was lots of may blossom - hawthorn - out both on the M6 and in the part of Clare where I was staying, up near Galway.
A friend of mine has a story about going collecting flowers in spring with her little sister - her sister collected lots of hawthorn blossom, and she, being the big girl, swapped posies with her. She came in the door of the house and her grandmother, seeing what she was holding, got her by the scruff of her neck and ran her out of the house. Her sister was killed on the road later that day.