Flowering Quince for Early Spring Blooms
Melissa Petruzzello is Assistant Managing Editor and covers a range of content from plants, algae, and fungi, to renewable energy and environmental engineering. She has her M.S. in Plant Biology and Conservation.
flowering quince
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While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.
Melissa Petruzzello is Assistant Managing Editor and covers a range of content from plants, algae, and fungi, to renewable energy and environmental engineering. She has her M.S. in Plant Biology and Conservation.
Encyclopaedia Britannica’s editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
flowering quince, (genus Chaenomeles), genus of three species of flowering plants in the rose family (Rosaceae), native to eastern Asia. Flowering quince is cultivated primarily as an ornamental for its showy flowers, though its astringent applelike fruit can be used in preserves and liqueurs and holds some potential as an alternate fruit crop. The members of the genus are related to traditional quince (Cydonia oblonga) and Chinese quince (Pseudocydonia sinensis).
Physical description
All three species of flowering quince are spiny deciduous shrubs that bear simple alternately arranged leaves with serrated (toothed) margins. Blooming in late winter or early spring, the flowers have five petals and can be up to 4.5 cm (1.8 inches) in diameter. The fruit is a pome.
The plants are susceptible to a number of diseases, including fungal leaf spot, apple scab, fire blight, and cedar-quince rust.
Major species
The Chinese flowering quince (Chaenomeles cathayensis) reaches 3 metres (9.8 feet) in height. It produces white to pink flowers and bears the largest fruit of the genus, 15 cm (5.9 inches) long. The Japanese quince (C. japonica) is popularly grown in bonsai and has provided several horticultural varieties with red, pink, or white flowers. The common flowering quince (C. speciosa), frequently used in informal hedges, bears red, pink, or white flowers and grows to about 2 metres (6.6 feet).
Flowering Quince for Early Spring Blooms
Flowering quince are one of the first shrubs to bloom in early spring. The branches are loaded with blooms before they leaf out. They’re also hardy, tough, long-lasting and super easy to grow. We love using quince in mixed borders because the flowers can be appreciated when little else is happening. Then it just becomes a useful dark evergreen background. Butterflies and hummingbirds will also savor the early flowers.
There are many varieties of quince and choosing the right one is based on what you want. Older varieties such as Super Red, Toyo-Noshiki, and Texas Scarlet produce fruits adored by birds in fall. They have some meaningful thorns (like a living barbed wire fence, but prettier), making them ideal for hedges or espalier.
Newer varieties including the Double Take series are smaller overall, do not produce fruits, and are largely thornless. They’re ideal for a lower hedge along a walkway, up against a fence, or in a mixed border or container.
If your garden feels colorless as winter drones on, consider adding a few of this lovely flowering shrub. Next year, late winter, you will be so glad you did!
The Art of Gentle Persuasion
Quince are one of the easiest of the spring bloomers to bring inside to force into flower. Cut branches with fat buds beginning to swell, and place in a vase of water near a sunny window. Buds will often begin to unfold in days. Be patient; a week or more can pass before buds open.