Growing Japanese Quince in Polycultures

Growing Japanese Quince in Polycultures

Growing well in partial shade, the plants can be grown in the under story of larger fruit trees. We have them planted on swales approximately 1m apart with blackcurrants and aronia placed in between. All these plants are growing beneath two cherry plum trees (thinned down from four originally). We have also planted chives and tree onions around these plants.

This plant features in many of our polycultures including our early pollenizer guild (coming soon), living fences, and support islands around the vegetables where we grow the plant with Ribes nigrum, Allium schoenoprasum, Rudbeckia laciniata and Primula vulgaris ground cover.

All of these plants are available from our Bionursery and can be delivered to anywhere in Europe.

Cultivars/Varieties

Many cultivars exist, some of which do not provide fruit and are used for ornamental purposes. Here is a list of a few:

'Rasa' - A Lativian cultivar registered in 2011 is the first cultivar of Chaenomeles registered in the world for fruit production.
Thornless, winter-hardy bush
Very productive (total 21.9 kg/bush in 5 years)
Average fruit weight 40-50 g containing 70 mg/% vitamin C, 350 mg% phenolic compounds in average. The fruits mature at the beginning of September.

'Cameo' - Double, apricot-pink flowers. A low growing selection (1 - 1.5m tall) with bright green foliage and few thorns. Plant has good clean foliage and appears disease resistant, thus many observers consider the plant superior to other cultivars.

'Contorta' - This form, with twisted stems and white flowers, is appearing more frequently in the trade. The contorted branches can be showy in the winter landscape.

'Jet Trail' - A low-growing form (to 1m tall) with pure white blossoms.

'Nivalis' - A vigorous, upright grower with spiny branches. White, single flowers in April.

'Texas Scarlet' - A low-growing plant (to 1m tall) with few thorns. Blooms are bright red, considered among the best. The apple-like fruit may also be used for culinary purposes.

'Toyo-Nishiki' - An unusual form with red, pink and white flowers in the same flower cluster. Upright, rounded habit with spiny branches (growing 2 - 3 m tall). While the flowering habit is unusual and the plant is very hardy, some reports indicate that it may be more prone to fireblight disease.