One of the pleasures of my job is to use someone else's money to purchase plants. When I see an unusual plant I am not familiar with being offered by one of my vendors, the first thing I do is a little research and see if it will grow here. You can't rely solely on zone information, especially in the South, you also have to know how it handles humidity and heat (both daytime and nighttime temperatures). So I will give something a try if it sounds good, and if it sells well, I'll try to make it part of our regular inventory.
The one we planted is pictured here, and as you can see it is an early bloomer; I took these pictures last week. It is pretty, but I don't think it will replace Japanese Cherries anytime soon. Now that it is older you can see that the bark is going to be attractive, and all I read said that this is one of its main assets.
Last fall the tree set copious amounts of fruit. They were huge yellow orbs, and if they were to fall on you, you would know it. They are supposed to be edible so I tasted one -- I have not added them to my diet; maybe they are one of those things that you have to add lots of sugar and turn into jam. The one below has been outside all winter and it is still as hard as a big yellow rock.
The Chinese Quince should get about 20' tall by slightly less in width, and is listed as hardy in zones (5)6-8. It is indeed in the same family as common Flowering Quince, but unlike other members of the family, it is thornless.
Maybe the main reason I like this is for its botanical name. Pseudocydonia sinensis just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?
Wow - that fruit is something. I can imagine it following on your head.
ReplyDeleteBoy, it would be dreamy to have a job that paid for my plant obsession. Perhaps we should all send you a 'wish list' and perhaps you can add it to yours! :)
(And I can honestly say that I'm not a member of the Cult of the Perfect Lawn...not a chance there of even a friendly invite!)
I was given 2 fruits collected in Hamden, CT. Beginning with a traditional jelly, I cooked the syrup futher and then cut the resulting stiff jelly into small pieces which I rolled in superfine sugar. The candies are a deep wine red and pleasantly sweet/tart. They will be my contribution to the annual CT Botanical Society meeting's pot luck lunch today.
ReplyDeleteJude
Jude,
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and posting a comment. I have never eaten quince, but just knew there had to be an envolved process to make them palatable.
Les
Les,
ReplyDeleteThey looked and smelled like our everyday quince, so I just used a quince jelly recipe and TA-DA!
Jude
Stumbled on your site when looking around for items on Chinese Quince. They have a tree at the Luther Burbank experimental farm in Sebastopol, Cal. The fruit is enormous---and smells heavenly! After reading your info, we've decided to go ahead and grow on. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous #2,
ReplyDeleteThanks for stumbling over. You are welcome to come back anytime.
Les
fanstastic! ...stumbled across this tree in full fruit at Botanic Ark Nursery in Warragul [Southeastern Australia] and am going to give one a go in our backyard... i've been cooking European quinces from a friend's tree for the last month or so [seasons are reversed down here and its getting cold nowadays!] and there really is nothing more heartwarming than stewed quince over good vanilla ice cream - and i've accidentally made a yummy quince cordial by stewing them with too much water, but the resulting juice was irresistable...
ReplyDeleteMatt,
ReplyDeleteI think it is a good thing that this tree has more ornamental qualities than edible. Maybe yours will be tasty. Best of luck!
Les
I read in Dirr's that fireblight is "a significant problem and may limit successful culture."
ReplyDeleteAnon.,
ReplyDeleteYes they are prone to fireblight. We had not seen it on the one in the garden at work until this year, which has been particularly bad for fireblight.
Les
I live in Japan, and at the university where I teach there are many Chinese quince trees. In Japanese, people refer to Chinese quince as "karin." I'm the only one at my school who seems to appreciate these beautiful trees, and I collect the fruit when it falls in November. The aroma of this fruit is heavenly. I've cooked some in a pressure cooker and added sugar, honey, and lemon, but unfortunately it's not particularly delicious. Plus, it takes an awful lot of sugar or honey to make it palatable.
ReplyDeleteDave, it think this tree is best appreciated by the eye and nose, rather than the tongue. Thank you for commenting.
Deletedo these trees set fruit alone, or do they reqire another chinese quince to cross pollinate?
ReplyDeleteThe one pictured here was the only tree of its kind anywhere nearby, and it usually bore fruit. Also, everything I've ever read about this species indicates they are self-fruitful, but most sources also say you would get better pollination with another tree nearby.
Delete