Chaenomeles plants (Ornamental Quince)
Chaenomeles plants, commonly known as Japanese quince or flowering quince, are spiny, spreading deciduous shrubs producing attractive, cup-shaped, five-petaled flowers in cheerful shades of salmon pink, coral red, deep vermilion and pure white. The flowers have a charming apple blossom appearance, produced individually or in loose clusters depending on the variety, and followed by yellow or green edible fruits, resembling small apples. Native to Japan and China, they make a welcome addition to the winter garden with a low-growing, vigorous bushy habit and glossy, deep green oval foliage. We think Chaenomeles deserve a place in every shrubbery or mixed borders and make a fine choice to form a low, flowering hedge. Their spiny branches are useful for intruder proof security screens whilst they are also effective as specimens for foundation plantings and well suited to training as a wall shrub. Unfussy and easy to grow, quince are suitable for growing in a wide range of soil types from dry sand to clay, providing they aren’t allowed to sit with wet feet.