{"id":3659,"date":"2022-04-12T07:05:01","date_gmt":"2022-04-12T15:05:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=3659"},"modified":"2022-04-12T07:05:01","modified_gmt":"2022-04-12T15:05:01","slug":"thorny-beauty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/thorny-beauty\/","title":{"rendered":"Thorny Beauty"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Quince-flowering\"<\/a>Right now I am in love with my flowering quince bush.\u00a0 It is currently covered with white to pale pink flowers that look like apple blossoms and light up the front garden.\u00a0 Occasionally the shrub throws off a bright scarlet bloom just to liven things up and remind me that my plant is the result of complex breeding operations\u2014both human and bee-initiated.<\/p>\n

The rest of the year, I have mixed feelings about the quince, and those feelings tend to unmix when I attempt pruning my specimen.\u00a0 Left to its own devices, it is a would-be behemoth that might grow to be seven feet tall and at least five feet wide, so pruning is abundantly necessary. So is a supply of bandaids.<\/p>\n

In fact, there is not a flower lover on earth who, when sighting a flowering quince in full bloom, would not want to march right up and clip a few stems.\u00a0 There is not a flower lover on earth who would not leave the raptures behind quickly as fingers collided with spines that can be three quarters of an inch long and exceedingly sharp.\u00a0 Nature will have her little joke\u2026<\/p>\n

Flowering quince\u2014Chaenomeles japonica, Chaenomeles speciosa and hybrids\u2014have been enchanting and lacerating us for a long time.\u00a0 The japonica species was introduced to the United States from Asia in 1784.\u00a0 The somewhat less impressive speciosa species arrived in 1815.\u00a0 The quinces caught on quickly.\u00a0 For some time flowering quince was known as Pyrus japonica, a nod to a closely related Rosaceae family member, the pear tree.<\/p>\n

I coveted flowering quince for years before finally acquiring one a decade ago.\u00a0 I originally ordered a variety that the catalog vendor described as having flaming scarlet petals\u2014close to those of the old-fashioned \u2018Boule de Feu\u2019 or \u2018Bowl of Fire\u2019, mentioned by garden writer Vita Sackville West back in the mid twentieth century.\u00a0 But mix-ups are bound to happen in the horticultural trade.\u00a0 When the tiny plant arrived, there was nary a bloom of any color in sight. It was duly installed and cosseted for two years before it flowered.\u00a0 When the long-awaited event finally took place, it was too late to get a replacement.\u00a0 Besides, the pinky-white flowers are lovely and when those rebellious red blossoms appear, they stand out like beacons.\u00a0 I think my plant may actually be \u2018Toyo Nishiki\u2019, which is reputed to flower in pink and white, with random brighter red flowers.<\/p>\n

The mislabeled plant received only a partial pruning this past year, so it is now about six feet high with a five foot spread.\u00a0 Of course I clip off branches for the house, making sure to hunt down and remove all the spines before the branches even pass the threshold.\u00a0 Once impaled, twice shy.<\/p>\n

The difference between flowering quince and common quince\u2014Cydonia oblonga\u2014is that common quince is grown primarily for its aromatic pear-like fruit and the flowering variety, which may also fruit, is grown for its flowers.\u00a0 My flowering quince bore several fruits last year and the fragrance was intoxicating.\u00a0 I am looking forward to more fruits this year, if the weather and the bees cooperate.\u00a0 The fruits are exceedingly hard and sour, and cannot be eaten out of hand unless you are a ravenous raccoon.\u00a0 Stew them with apples, though, and they make a delicious quince\/applesauce.<\/p>\n

Sackville-West, co-creator of the great gardens at Sissinghurst in Kent, England, mentioned flowering quince many times in her garden column for the English newspaper the Observer<\/em>.\u00a0 She recommended using the shrubs en masse for flowering hedges.\u00a0 Needless to say, the quinces would do double duty in that situation, barring intruders with a wall of barbed branches.<\/p>\n

Quinces can also be grown as specimen plants or incorporated into a mixed annual, perennial and shrub border.\u00a0 With a little extra effort they can be trained to a wall in an espalier. Whatever the situation, they appreciate the same conditions as other members of the rose family\u2014full sun and rich, loamy soil.\u00a0 Like many beautiful things, they tend to grow in an undisciplined manner.\u00a0 Invest in the sturdiest pair of garden gloves that you can find, and prune the wayward branches after flowering.<\/p>\n

A century ago, the most popular flowering quinces were single flowered varieties, like my shrub.\u00a0 Now, judging by the catalog listings, people are equally fond of fluffy-flowered doubles, like \u2018Red Chief\u2019, apricot-flowered \u2018Cameo\u2019, and plants in the Double Take series, including \u2018Double Take Orange\u2019\u00a0 Smaller varieties are also readily available, like the white-flowered \u2018Jet Trail\u2019, that grows only one to two feet tall.\u00a0 For flaming red flowers, \u2018Texas Scarlet\u2019 fills the bill on plants that are also relatively compact.<\/p>\n

Beauty is the best reason to invest in flowering quince.\u00a0 Don\u2019t be intimidated by the spines.\u00a0 For centuries gardeners have grown all kinds of spiny things, including barberries, cacti and holly, and managed, using a combination of gloves and caution, to enjoy them without being seriously maimed.<\/p>\n

\"Quince-flowering<\/a>Find your flowering quince at good local nurseries.\u00a0 If supplies are lacking, try ForestFarm, 14643 Watergap Rd, Williams, OR 97544; (541) 846-7269; www.forestfarm.com<\/a>. Print catalog available.<\/p>\n

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Right now I am in love with my flowering quince bush.\u00a0 It is currently covered with white to pale pink flowers that look like apple blossoms and light up the front garden.\u00a0 Occasionally the shrub throws off a bright scarlet bloom just to liven things up and remind me that my plant is the result … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2],"tags":[554,555,2688,553,491,1542,2690,2687,488,2689],"class_list":["post-3659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","tag-chaenomeles-japonica","tag-chaenomeles-speciosa","tag-cydonia-oblonga","tag-flowering-quince","tag-flowering-shrubs","tag-fruiting-shrubs","tag-privacy-hedges","tag-quince-hybrids","tag-rose-family","tag-thorny-shrubs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3659"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3662,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3659\/revisions\/3662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}