Pomegranate Trees or Bushes

[AIMummy]

Good Evening MN gardeners, just a quick question if I may: those of you who have pomegranate trees or bushes in the UK, do they flower here and do you see bees visiting them? Also are they very thorny? I'm thinking of getting a hardy small tree (not a palm or olive, have those already) for my Mediterranean themed garden but needs to be child friendly and not very attractive to bees (we have a hive nearby) or rodents. I live in a 9b growing zone. Thank you in advance.

Hi Almummy. I don't have a Pomegranate tree, so I'm not sure how useful my post will be! But as you don't have any replies yet, here goes...The pomegranate tree does require bees for pollination to produce fruit, so the flowers would certainly be attractive to them.
Any shrub or tree with flowers followed by fruits/berries is likely to attract bees for pollination in a similar way, and berries and fruit might also attract rodents.

I can think of two alternative strategies for your mediterranean themed garden.

Firstly, you could choose a different type of shrub or tree that is a sterile or, almost sterile, hybrid variety. It will produce flowers but little or no pollen/nectar so won't attract bees. This will also mean no berries/fruit, so not tempting for rodents.

You can do your own research into this, but there are two types of such plant I can think of - although not mediterranean, they might blend into such a garden sufficiently to not look out of place, depending on your preference.
The honey locust sunburst tree (Gleditsia triacanthos f. inermis Sunburst). It's a beautiful delicately leaved tree, grown for it's foliage. Rarely are the small flowers fertile, and I have never seen it produce seed pods. It can grow up to 25 ft but this is likely to be after 30-50 years growth. It is thornless.
I have grown the sterile shrub Viburnum (plicatum f plicatum) as a standard tree shape. It is less likely to blend in to the mediterraneam theme but would be very striking! Its white flowers are similar to a lacy hydrangea, and it has interesting colour foliage in autumn.

Secondly, you could choose a shrub that is grown for its foliage, and just trim off the flower buds before they develop. Photinia red robin might fit well into your garden as thrives in a sunny site. When it is grown as a shrub it is rather dense, but when trained as a standard with a single trunk, it has quite an open, attractive habit and it easy to prune. It can also be bought as a top grafted lollipop tree in various heights. If kept pruned to this shape it will not flower or fruit. It is evergreen.

Apologies if this is not what you are looking for!

How about a pine? There are several species native to the Mediterranean, but those might get too large in time, so another variety could suit better.

Mugo pines are easily available and can be kept small and shrubby by pruning, or can be allowed to grow to a decent size.

No problems with hardiness, no thorns and pines are wind-pollinated so not attractive to bees.

Excellent idea @yamadori !

Thank you for your replies. @yamadori I have been thinking about getting a pomegranate half standard so the thorns are out of the way of young children and trimming the flowers (if it produces any) if they attract too many bees. I'll definately have a look at your other recommendations. @brambleberries I did see pine recommended for Mediterranean gardens online but having never felt one irl I thought the foliage on them would be sharp like needles 🙈😂. I'm going to add one to my garden now. Many thanks both, some great ideas.

Pomegranates are not reliably hardy in the UK. I've got one, but it is a dwarf variety in a pot and lives in the potting shed in the winter. It has yet to delight me with flowers.

Pine needles aren't sharp and won't cause any damage to small persons.