• Eventual Height: 4.5m
• Eventual Spread: 4.5m

quince 'Meech's Prolific'

quince

• Position: full sun
• Soil: fertile, moist but well drained
• Rate of growth: average
• Flowering period: April to May
• Flower colour: pale pink to white
• Other features: quinces were once used as room fresheners
• Hardiness: fully hardy
• Root Stock: Qunice 'A'
  
  Producing its tasty fruit in abundance (without the need of a pollination partner) this small, rounded tree is also a very decorative addition to the garden. It has gnarled and twisted branches, which are covered with white, bowl-shaped blooms in spring. It is later in the year that the highly fragrant, pear-like fruits develop and ripen. These fruits make wonderful jam or jelly, or go well with apples in cooked pies and puddings.
  
  
• Garden care: When planting incorporate lots of well-rotted garden compost in the planting hole and stake firmly.
  
  

Native to rocky slopes in Southwestern Asia, quinces are attractive small, rounded trees with knarled and slightly contorted branches. The stems are clothed in shallow bowl-shaped, pale pink to white flowers in late spring, and these are followed by very fragrant pale green, pear-like fruits. These ripen in autumn to a golden yellow, and grow up to 8cm long. They are too bitter and hard to eat fresh, but when cooked the flesh softens and turns pink and makes a delicious jam. It is a very hardy plant, but it needs warmth and sun to fruit well, so in colder climates it is best trained against a south facing wall. It works well in oriental style gardens and it has received the Award of Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society.