Jelly maybes
Quinces are a vision in crimson – and their fruits always come in handy, writes David Overend.
Not many people grow quinces, which is a shame when you consider their ability to bring vivid colour to early spring. Chaenomeles may be a deciduous, rather lax shrub, but it can be forgiven almost anything once it starts to produce its gorgeous crimson flowers studded with yellow anthers.
It can be used as ground cover or, more often than not, grown trained against a wall. And if the plant isn’t pruned after flowering, there’s the potential of fruit in autumn. It’s suitable for making jellies, liqueurs and preserves.
Various varieties flower at various times – one of the earliest being C speciosa “Phylis Moore”, which produces masses of large semi-double almond-pink blooms even before new foliage starts to show in spring.
This is a vigorous quince which demands a fair amount of space to thrive – expect a healthy specimen to eventually top eight feet in height and perhaps twice that in width. In fact, it’s sometimes used as a informal hedge, but it’s probably at its best on a sunny wall.
Once the blooms have faded, trim the flowering stems to a healthy bud and when the plant has reached maturity, remove one in five of the oldest shoots each year.
A slightly later flowerer is C x superba “Knap Hill Scarlet” which tends to produce its blooms in late spring through early summer. These are a striking scarlet with golden anthers. In autumn, there should be plenty of amber fruits.
This is another vigorous quince, although it tends to top out at five feet and rarely grows wider than six feet. Again, it loves a sheltered wall and fertile, welldrained soil. Prune it like “Phylis Moore” but beware that the stems of “Knap Hill Scarlet” are packed with spines, a fact that makes this shrub ideal for planting as a deterrent for uninvited guests.
And for something even more compact, there’s always C x superba “Crimson and Gold”, which may spread six feet wide but is unlikely to grow higher than three feet. It can be grown against walls, in a border or even as an unusual ground cover.
Is name tells you all you need to know – the blooms are a deep crimson, again with yellow anthers, and there’s the bonus of yellow-green fruit in autumn. Trim after flowering.