If you are a zone «pusher» do you have an unexpected success story to tell?

I do.

Contrary to the majority of people living in cold climate even including those knowledgeable in the «fruit department» I have heard, seen and ate many quince products from trips abroad. In Canada you can find (a few) quince trees in southern Ontario but most probably not elsewhere. Commercial quince orchards? Probably not.

Since I’m a hopelessly (and stubborn) romantic guy I wanted to recreate at home the smell and taste of this most neglected fruit.

I bought 5 whips Zagreb quince trees put them in pots in my greenhouse in the summer season and in a heated shed for winter time. I did that 5 years in a row. On May 12, 2020, I decided to put them where they truly belong: in the ground.

To my amazement they all survived but winter 2020 was relatively not cold… The coldest night we got reached only - 10 F or -23 C and there was a lot of snow on the ground.

Early June 2021 was the real test… Flowers or not. Flowers they got and plenty of it I might add. Those flowers turned into tiny fruitlets that got bigger and bigger with each passing weeks. I was deeply afraid about fruit dropping but this natural phenomenon did not happen. I present to you the result now. Photos taken on September 14, 2021:

Difficult to explain why I’m so ecstatic :star_struck: about my new friends… I guess you just have to go through such an experience in order to know what the hell I’m talking about!!!

Marc (not living so close to the North Pole anymore)

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Blueberries. Some Southern highbush do fine in zone 6, 'though zone 7 or higher is generally recommended. (There is some risk to blooming too early once chill hours are met…but not nearly the issue that comes in trying to raise peaches…or apricots.)

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I grew morus nigra mulberries in a pot which are supposed to be hardy to zone 8 and up but I am zone 5. In fairness it has been years where I live that we have had a -10 degree day let alone a -20 day. At least here in the states zone maps are getting outdated because it is heating up so much.

I’m in northern Utah, zone 5b. There are two large pistachio trees (zone 7+) growing on the nearby university campus that were supposedly planted by Iranian students in the late 70s. I’m about 1/2 mile away and our coldest recent temperature was -17 F and they survived fine. Our all time record low is around -25 F before my time here but they apparently survived that too.

They are at the top of a steep south facing hill next to a parking lot and get no supplemental water. I’ve seen them loaded with nuts but went back two weeks later and they were all harvested.

I’ve personally seen -31 and several others -19 and colder. The minus 19 came 2014-2015,killing many Leyland cypress and crepe myrtle trees. But, besides that, it’s been pretty nice here in Kentucky since 1994 and 1996. (I guess 08/09 got pretty bad too…but I spent that one in Florida and it got to 17 there and flurries from Bartow to Frost Proof.
Currently I’m listed as zone 6b. (The USDA moved us to 5 in the late 1980’s…so things change…in both directions sometimes.)

my z5 goumis are doing well in z4 here.4 yrs ago i lost some branches but its faired well so far. what do quinces taste like? they look alot like pears.

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Your quince are stunning! Congratulations. I have enough trouble growing things that fit my zone but I find your pictures and story very inspiring. :+1:

Hi Steve:

Never tasted goumis but would like to try for sure. Totally unknown around here for sure. Are they a bit like Viburnum trilobum? They don’t look alike so maybe not…Another underestimated little fruit!

Ah! Quince… the fruit that fell from grace and gave its place to apple. Yes, Eve never bit an :apple: for the reason that Malus does not like heat and needs dormancy. So no apple in the Middle East but a lot of quinces. Many scholars believe quince (or figs) was the original forbidden fruit but since it was mostly unknown in the Western Europe, some flakes decided to change it for an apple which was way most popular in the West.

But even if the forbidden fruit was a quince, Eve would not had taken a bite from it for the fruit is 80% of the time as hard as a rock even when ripe (color yellow). Only 20% of quince varieties are supposed to be soft enough to be eaten when ripe. I tried one in Turkey and was not impressed at all by the taste so this is why most quinces must be cooked into compote (sauce), jelly, jam or paste (membrillo). Once cooked quinces taste a bit like pear, apple and :pineapple:, yes pineapple and the aroma is surprisingly like vanilla. I going to have about 20 fruits And I believe I will go compote (sauce) and jam but next year I will go membrillo for sure!

Marc

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Hi drusket:

Yes they are stunning and I’m so totally shocked that are are going to be so huge for a first picking. But I still have to inform my customers about this fruit and they are difficult to educate believe me! They are so strawberries/raspberries/blueberries that I have the feeling that I’m going to eat quince jam/jelly/sauce and paste for the next 20 years…
Marc

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