PlantFiles: Flowering Quince
Chaenomeles speciosa

We've had the flowering quince for 10-12 years. It was subject to slow growth in the first several years due to winter pruning by rabbits. My wife was disappointed that I failed to surround the plant with a barrier so each year we expected flowers but nothing happened. Within the last couple years the plant has taken off and is now prolific with spring blossoms and to our surprise this year it has 3 fruit that are about 3-4 inches in diameter. We will harvest the fruit and get our first taste of quince. We've enjoyed watching the changes over the years and expect to do so for years to come

I have a large specimen in my backyard (12'H x 15'W), that begins to bloom in late Feb. and still has several blooms on it today. I usually harvest enough fruit each year to make a few cans of preserves. It and the two smaller ones I added a couple of years ago are about the only things that the deer leave alone.

A few years ago, we planted seven Quince along the top
of what I often call a ditch. For some odd reason, the county
decided to raise their mowers all the way up on our bank,
shredding one of our Quince. I was mortified!

Apparently he either realized what he had done or saw
me coming with a shotgun (just kidding) but he lowered
the mower back down to the ground and proceeded. The
spot he chose was not even county property to mow!
The odd thing is, he started in the middle of the bank,
not the end. To help protect them, I now keep large
chunky rocks in between the plants.

Other than being completely scalped, it survived. It
is not as tall as the others, but I'm sure it will catch up.

As of today they are all still in bloom, this 26th day of
March, 2007, standing at just about knee high. I'm
taking cuttings as a precautionary measure for this
year's potential bumbling mow job.

Mowing accidents aside, the flowering quince is more
than welcome in my garden. The beautiful blooms in
early spring make me want to get out there and dance!

Karen Marie

I live in St. Petersburg, Florida and saw a sprawling tree that had to be about 20' tall by 20'wide that had a bloom very similar to a red quince. I'm curious if these bushes grow naturally into standards like crape myrtles or was it something else?

'Texas Scarlet' is a very low-growing cultivar, usually under 12", and is fairly spreading in habit. Fewer thorns than most, with a prolonged flowering habit, often from February through April.

Jet Trail' is a compact flowering quince cultivar which typically grows only to 2-4' tall. It is a dense, twiggy, spiny, deciduous shrub noted for its pure white, early spring flowers and its compact, broad-spreading habit. Five-petaled white flowers (1.5" diameter) appear in small clusters mostly before the foliage emerges in an extremely showy early spring bloom. Flowers are followed by hard, yellowish-green fruits (quinces) which ripen in autumn. Although edible, quinces are too bitter to be eaten directly from the plant, but are sometimes used in preserves and jellies.

Deciduous shrub,6-10 ft(2-3 m)high,similar or greater spread,rounded outline,sometimes erect,tangled and dense twiggy mass,spiny branches.Leaves alternate,simple,ovate to oblong,1 to 3 inches long,sharply serrate,lustrous dark green above,stipules large on current seasons growth.Flowers red,pink to white look like large apple blossoms,start to appear before leaves in spring (sporadically in fall), solitary or 2-4 per cluster,about 1 3/4 inches across,showy.Fruit yellowish green with reddish blush, 5-6 cm long, fragrant,speckled with small dots, ripen in early fall.
Sun (best for full flowering) to partial shade. Adaptable to many soil conditions,does well in dry situations. Prune to remove older branches,or cut to 15 cm above ground to renew