Flowering Quince
- Zone 5
Characteristics of the tree
Hardy to zone 5, the flowering quince produces spectacular blossoms in early spring. Its lemon-shaped fruit makes excellent preserves and adds exquisite flavour and fragrance to many dishes.
The exceptionally fragrant fruit is lemon shaped, bright yellow and can be between 5 and 15 cm in diameter. Its potent aroma fills the landscape or the kitchen like a breath of tropical air. The fruit are rather bitter when eaten fresh but can be used in many cooked dishes to impart powerful flavour. Where they really shine is as a component in jams and jellies, in which their high pectin levels aid the development of thick texture and the flesh adds dazzling flavour and fragrance.
Flowering quince is a rather fast-growing, medium sized and thorny shrub; native to China, Tibet, and Myanmar. It can reach heights of up to 3 metres and similar spreads. This shrub has a dense, rounded form with spiky branches and glossy green leaves. The flowering quince makes a better specimen shrub than its smaller cousin by virtue of its rounder, more upright growth habit. It will produce vibrant pink blossoms up to 4 cm across in late winter, early spring. Its pink flowers and bright yellow fruit offer a nice complement to the dark glossy leaves. It is a highly adaptable plant, growing in a variety of soil conditions including dry soil and heavy clay. It is also quite tolerant of at least partial shade. However, it will thrive most in moist, well-drained soils and will exhibit faster growth and more deeply coloured flowers when grown in full sun. It has great potential for windbreak, hedge, and erosion control plantation.
These plants are seedlings from a flowering quince tree growing in zone 5. As they are seedlings, each one is genetically different and they two will pollinate each other if planted nearby (although the shrub is self-fertile, you will have better fruit production with a pollinator.)
This is the last time we are offering this variety, as we have decided to maintain production only of trees hardy to at least zone 4.
All our quince shrubs are sold bare-root, without pots. They have been cultivated directly in our soil. Bare-root trees must be taken out of the ground and shipped during their period of dormancy, which is why we only ship trees in the spring. A big advantage with these kinds of trees is that they take up very little space, and can therefore be easily shipped by mail all over Canada!
This photograph shows a 1-3-foot bare-root quince tree, just like one that you might receive. Depending on the height you choose at the time of purchase, the tree might be taller (3-5 feet).
