Just curious if anyone has grown either of these trees, or tried the fruit. The research I did on them prior to placing the order with Burnt Ridge was overall positive, but wanted to get some first hand experiences from folks on the forum. Thanks!
Have or have had 'em both. Not sure Aromatnaya is still alive - did produce one fruit a couple of years ago… not noticeably different from any other Cydonia quince I’ve purchased at the grocery (when available). Cedar-quince rust is a problem here.
Silk Hope - good fruit quality… it’s the mulberry planted closest to the house here, but birds get most of them. Comparable to, but not any better than Illinois Everbearing, IMO, and less productive than IE.
Thanks, Lucky. From what I’ve read, that variety of quince is supposed to be a little more disease resistant, and better for eating fresh. Would preventatives for CAR also work for quince rust? I suspect it would. I’ve never tried quince before - can you describe the taste?
I went with Silk Hope because it was developed in NC, so I suspected it would be more suited for my environment. I think I also read it blooms later than IE, so would be more likely to avoid late freezes that we have here. Nice to hear that it has good flavor.
It’s all part of the adventure of gardening and growing fruit - experimenting with different things to see what works and what doesn’t. I’m not far from you, so our conditions are probably very similar.
The Mulberries I have are Pakistan(fruit dropped at green stage so far),Dwarf Girardi(okay,a little bland),Wellington(sweet,good berry),Illinois Everbearing(still young,only tried a few fruit,but sweet like Wellington) and Silk Hope(close to Wellington and IE,but sweeter to me). Brady
Quince is for cooking only. It tastes like a stronger version of an apple/pear cross with some lemon thrown in. I had severe fireblight and quince rust problems, quince is generally more susceptible to fireblight than pears. Quince rust can be controlled with sprays supposedly. I had several cultivars including Aromatnaya, all had these problems.
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Quince also has a strange perfumey smell and flavor unique unto it.
In the first century, the scholar Plutarch reports that a Greek bride would nibble a quince to perfume her kiss before entering the bridal chamber, “in order that the first greeting may not be disagreeable nor unpleasant.”
As Scott suggests- Most quince cultivars in raw form are hard as a rock and are best cooked down into a product.
I’ve put quince jelly on toast and bagels, but it is too cloying and fragrant for my taste.
However, I imagine quince jelly would bake well on chicken or pork dishes. Have not tried that yet, but always wanted to… akin to how the Europeans cook plum sauce into their meat dishes.
The Quince jelly I’ve tried is made by a company called Monastery/ Trappist and can sometimes be found at Wegmans or other grocery stores. It can also be mail ordered:
Quince makes a very good jam. The type I like is when the fruit are cut into cubes (about one-two inches in size) or slices and cooked until the fruit become almost transparent but still a little bit firm. You would not spread it over a toast, but it makes a perfect dessert when accompanied by a good tea (brewed from leaves, not from a tea packet!).
Here are a few pictures I googled, which show this type of jam:
Well, if fresh eating doesn’t work out, it looks like there are several other uses for quince - assuming disease doesn’t kill it first!
This is the second year I am eating Silk Hope Mulberry. It is very good. It has very good balance of very sweet and a little tart. My family love it. There is no beanie after taste like the wild mulberries around here.
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Yumbo! I have one growing in a pot that will go into the ground this fall. How many hours of sun does your SH get?
It is almost in full sun.
I have a spot with 6 morning hours of direct sunlight. Hoping that space works!
I have grown both. I like Silk Hope but the fruit is a little smaller than many others and it bears for a shorter period of time than most mulberries.
Aromaynaya is not for fresh eating. I can’t tell the difference between it and most other quince. Mine eventually died from fire blight.
Something seems amiss…‘Silk Hope’ has quite large fruit (over 1") and it bears longer than most…Can you post a picture?
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I have a couple experimental Bulgarian seedlings from the USDA, they are bred to be FB resistant. So far only one has been completely resistant but its been growing really slowly. Hopefully one day I’ll get some fruit on it!
All the standard varieties II got rid of, they were a source of pathogen for all my other trees.
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At one point I was growing 7 or 8 different mulberries. Silk Hope had the smallest fruit. My fruit was typically in the 1 inch range but that was small to me. It always had a shorter production window than my other mulberries. I cut out my tree a few years ago. I think it does better in the South than it does here in California.
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Bummer. My wife wanted one and I planted a pineapple quince so she can make jelly. Got a strong feeling it will be chopped down befkre it produces fruit.
What is your favorite mulberry for your region?
Oscar’s.
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