Trees and shrubs

[janfox7]

All answers are the names of trees and shrubs:
Military home for a merry man in green (5,3)
Improve this by beating, along with a woman and a dog (6)
These have religious associations:
Celestial specimen (4,2,6)
Specimen of suffering (5,2,6)

[annadomino]

2 is walnut

[annadomino]

4 may be crown of thorns

[JMR27]

3. Star of Sharon

[quinie]

Hi,annodomino,could you explain walnut, please?

[annadomino]

It's a little rhyme, along the lines of - a woman, a dog and a walnut tree - the more you beat them, they better they be.
Folks used to thrash walnut trees with a chain 'to make the sap rise' or or something.

[Calibax]

Hi Quinie, it's from a 16th Century proverb;
A woman, a dog, and a walnut tree, the more you beat them the better they be.

[Calibax]

sorry annadomino, I didn't mean to jump in before you explained it!

[annadomino]

Hey, no worries :)

[Calibax]

1 Major Oak - According to folklore, it was Robin Hood's shelter where he and his merry men slept.

[quinie]

Thank you,annodomino and Calibax.I'd never heard of that proverb- think I'll try to buy a book on proverbs and sayings.Thanks again.

[janfox7]

Many thanks one and all!