prairie point

flowering quince

First plant to flower each year is the quince (Chaenomeles speciosa). At a time when there is so much grey, it cheers me up to see the bright spots of red appear at the very back of the yard.

Quince looks its best in winter and early spring. Once the weather starts to get hot it loses a lot of leaves and turns yellowish. For that reason it is good to mix it with some other shrubs that stay green in the summer. Ours has remained green longer since we constructed a high wooden fence behind it that protects it from the western sun.

The shrub tends to look rather wild. The limbs are long and somewhat thorny. They were here before us so I can't say how old they are or what variety they might be. We don't trim them back at all and they are about six to seven feet tall and about as wide. They are practically indestructible.

Quince comes in a variety of shades of red and pink. A house a few blocks from us has a wonderful bright red one in the front yard that gets a lot of sun and blooms profusely. I will be looking forward to seeing it in a week or two.

Later there will be small fruits. I've heard they make a nice jelly. The birds and insects get to ours before we've had a chance to find out.

Posted by Bill Hopkins on January 6, 2004 09:29 PM