I have 2 cultivar if Japanese quince, Chaenomeles japonica, that fruit heavily. Toyo-Nishiki and Victory. I get about 30 lbs plus from my 2 shrubs. They are beautiful and flower very early. One is pink and the other red. The fruit can be used in many of the same ways that European quince is used although they are not related. The fruit survives even unhavested on the ground for quite a while so you don’t have to rush to harvest.
Anyone else growing these? How do you use them?
I thought these are supposed to be flower quince, might fruit few but not many. And the fruits are hard like a rock . Did you tried to make jam or cook them?
I just recently planted some flowering quince bushes for the sake of fruit but haven’t gotten any fruit yet. I can’t remember where I read it, but I read something that led me to believe flowering quince fruit ought to be similar in quality to fruiting quince, just much smaller and more difficult to harvest. I look forward to hearing what you figure out, as well as what anyone else can share about using the fruit.
We make jam with them. They are very high in pectin, just like the European quince. I think my wife used the exact same recipe. They are hard but not impossible to handle.
We have both and they are very similar. The fruit is smaller but not tiny. I’ve eaten a few fresh just to get a feel for the flavor and it’s nice. Floral as you would expect. A bit grainy like a quince also.
We combine them with apples to make a very tart applesauce. We then freeze it and eat it like sorbet.
What a great idea! Wonder if it would make good popsicles. I’ll try that. Thanks!
I grow these as well, the fruit are good in preserves or in a small portion to add
To apple or pear baked goods
I chop them up into gravel sized pieces and make them into “lemonade” or into a sauce.
John S
PDX OR
Interesting. Do they just stayed cubed in the drink? I can see how the tartness would compare to lemonade. Great idea!
A number of years ago,I bought a Toyo-Nishiki from a local nursery.The plant grew in a half whiskey barrel for awhile and then was placed in the ground.Nice flowers and big thorns,but never fruited.
My understanding is they are not self fertile. I bought 2 for that reason. Mine both fruited in year 2.
My brother grafted Japanese quince on to his flowering pear tree. The quince flowered the following spring after grafting. Not sure fruited or not
Waldork that is the train of thought I had as well after learning about the fruit online.
I just purchased cuttings from fruitwood for this spring and got Victory, Tanechka, Spitfire, Orleans, Jet Trail, and Susan’s Sunrise because they were available. I plan to keep them shrub size and use them as a “hedge” along the edge of the house. I am debating on keeping them in large pots in the ground and pruning them back every few years to avoid any foundation issues (unless someone has a better method!) I chose them along with a couple of other flowering shrubs for a pop of color in the spring, more so than for the fruit but certainly plan to take advantage of the harvest when it is available.
Thanks,that explains it.When buying,I was really looking for a Quince tree,but that was all they had.
I just take the fruit, chop it up with a knife except for the seedball in the middle. I leave it in the water for a few minutes. When you don’t cook it, you get all of the vitamin C and antioxidants. I can use the fruit pieces at least twice. I usually chop it a bit finer for the second and definitely for the third time.
JohN S
PDX OR
@disc4tw where did you purchase cuttings for all of these varieties? I’ve heard you can propagate them this way but was not confident in the sources
https://www.fruitwoodnursery.com/japanese-flowering-quince-rooted-cutting-plugs
I bought them at Fruitwood as I said above, however none of them worked out for me. They were already leafed out when they were shipped and USPS took a very long time to arrive so they were basically dead on arrival. Also most of the cuttings were super tiny. Your experience may vary and they might be great.
For what it’s worth I did place another order from them this year because their prices are so good (but not for flowering quince).
@disc4tw thanks for letting me know! Hoping to find more info on these. Agreed on their prices. Would love to have a couple vars.
I had purchased cuttings. If I was doing it again I’d go with their already rooted ones for this item. I did buy some Viburnums this year hoping they root easily as long as the cuttings are big enough…
