Quince Trees are easy care and come in a number of varieties. They are grown both as ornamental trees and also for the delicious fruit, used for cooking or jam. Quinces or Cydonia Oblongata are not always readily available in fruit shops or markets, however they are easy to grow in the home garden.
Growing your own Quince is a great way of providing fresh fruit being available. Very easy trees to grow, readily available for sale online and once established will crop heavily.
These are a hardy, easy care deciduous trees take well to pruning. They fruit well on a small contained tree. In Australia quinces are harvested in Autumn as they turn yellow.
Quince tree varieties
Quinces are used for cooking (usually stewed or roasted), making jams,and jellies and for making cider.
The thee most commonly grown varieties of quince trees are Smyrna, Champion and Angers.
- Smyrna is the Turkish variety as the name suggests, excellent fruit for cooking and an attractive tree. Will fruit when young.
- Champion is a variety from the USA, not as strong a taste as others, but again excellent for cooking
- Angers is a French variety, a smaller tree with fruit that stores very well and is again excellent when cooked. Requires cross pollination for good fruit set.
Other varieties include : Fullers and Mummery’s Seedling. Quince trees are available on dwarf rootstock, they are also available as multigraft trees.
You will also find trees grafted onto dwarfing rootstocks, excellent for those with smaller gardens.
Quince tree size
In terms of height a quince tree can reach up to 5 meters, however in containers they will remain smaller. Some varieties may also be grafted onto dwarfing rootstock which will keep the overall size smaller.
Pruning Quince Trees.
Although Quince trees do not require much pruning, they will benefit from some thinning. You can improve fruit production by opening up the centre of the tree a little.
Uses For QuinceFruit
One of the traditional uses for fruit from the Quince tree is to make Quince Jelly, however a few other recipes are worth looking for, here a few ideas.
- Quince Paste – Populare in Spain, Portugal and Italy.
- Quince Bread – Originally from the middle east but also found in France.
- Quince Tart – Look for Rick Steins recipe, using Quince puree with apples……
Problems
- Cherry Slug – These slugs eat the foliage and they over winter in the soil beneath the tree.
- Fleck – This is more prevalent in humid areas. If you remove all fallen leaves and fruit as they appear, and then burn them you can reduce the problem. Some resistent varieties are also available.
Quince Trees are available for sale from the following nurseries
Carey Gully, Adelaide Hills.
Family business selling a large range of deciduous trees in pots 1-4m high. Crepe myrtle specialist. Includes Ornamental pears & plums, Red maples, Japanese maples, Gingko, Cercis, Ash, Birch, Crab apples, Weeping cherries, Gleditsia, Liquidambar and more. Hedging plants, evergreen trees & fruit trees.
www.adelaidetreefarm.com.au
412 James Lane, Fern Hill VIC. 3458 - Phone 0419002651
Large range of Rare plants, Climbers, Bulbs, Perennials Fruit Trees, Ornamental Trees and Shrubs. Available both Retail and by Mail Order
www.whitehousenursery.com.au
55 McDougal Rd Neerim South Victoria 3831 PH: (03) 56281507
Advanced ornamental trees and garden designs and concept plans. Direct to your property combined with specialist knowledge and outstanding service.
www.blericktreefarm.com.au