MUST HAVE plants
The vibrant chalice-shaped blooms of wildlife-friendly flowering quinces are a delight in early springtime
The cheerful blooms of flowering quince or chaenomeles mark the year’s transition from winter to spring with an abundance of colour. Clusters of saucer-shaped blooms wreathe the dark woody stems, on naked branches, and later nestle among fresh young leaves. The many virtues of this amenable, long-lived shrub include adaptable growth that suits training on a wall, fence, in a container, or as a compact hedge, as well as growing as a free-standing shrub.
The blooms are borne over a long period and fruits that appear in autumn can be both perfumed and usefully edible. While shrubs have largely fallen from favour in the tide of naturalistic-style grasses and perennials that has swept our gardens of late, flowering quince is immensely worthy of a comeback.
Since its introduction from Japan and China more than a hundred years ago, chaenomeles has undergone several name changes. First Pyrus and Japonica – hence why older gardeners often still simply refer to ‘Japonicas’. Then Cydonia – the genus name that still applies to culinary quinces – hence the common name of flowering quince. This hardy shrub was a favourite with the Victorians, particularly trained on walls or as standards, and once there were many hundreds of varieties in cultivation.
Reasons for chaenomeles languishing low in the popularity stakes might be the cost – due to slow growth plants take years to reach a saleable size. Or perhaps because they’re best pruned annually to show off flowers untrammelled by twiggy growth and pruned shrubs have been rather elbowed out in favour of ultra-trendy ‘rewilding’. But gardens have room for both: after all, the juxtaposition of formal with natural is a classic design technique. Plus, this is a great shrub for wildlife, with blooms rich in nectar and pollen appearing at a time when there’s little else for bees to eat, and the dense, thorny growth is brilliant for bird nesting, giving good protection from predators.
Rather like puppies, flowering quinces are best got in hand and trained while young, then kept that way. When pruning, remember that flowers are borne on mature wood so carry out formative pruning to train plants in spring, then prune all plants in autumn to remove the current year’s growth and expose the main branch framework so the flowers will be revealed in all their glory. And there is a gorgeous colour range – reds, pink, coral,
