Plant family: Rosaceae
Plant origin: Middle East.
Fruit description: Smyrna Quince trees bear fruit prolifically, about 80kg a year. Each quince is roughly round, elongated, can be lumpy, about 15cm long, hard and greenish yellow when ripe. The skin is covered in white down which turns brown and rubs off at maturity. The fruit smells delicious and can perfume a room. The flesh is crisp, hard and white, fragrant but tart and astringent so it is usually not eaten fresh. It keeps very well in the refrigerator.
Flowers: Smyrna Quince flowers are very beautiful, they are big, soft, pale pink blossoms, appearing on new shoots in Spring. Each flower has 5 petals. The flower is about 5cm in diameter.
Growing conditions: Smyrna Quince trees are easy to grow and very hardy, deciduous, tolerant of frost, cold weather, warm climates, and to drought. The tree grows to about 4 metres high. The branches are twisted and attractive, an old tree is gnarled and makes a wonderful feature in the garden. The leaves have white furry down on both sides. They need moist soil with good drainage. Ideally the soil is slightly acidic. They can grow in heavy soil. Protect the tree from wind, especially when it is laden with fruit as the branches bend with the fruits weight. Prune the tree in winter when the plant is dormant. The best shape is a vase shape, open centred, or espaliered, so the fruit receives plenty of sunshine to ripen and the fruit can easily be picked. Give the tree a mixed general fertiliser twice a year in Spring and Summer.
Uses: Smyrna Quinces are transformed by cooking into a delicious fragrant food. The greenish white flesh turns a pretty pink when cooked. They taste wonderful in pies, desserts, fruit dishes with spices such as cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and cardamon. You can sweeten the stewed or baked quince with sugar or honey. Quinces are very high in pectin making them easy to make into paste and jellies. Quince paste has a deep pink brown colour, it keeps well for a long time.
Medicinal uses:
Pollination requirements: Self-Pollinating.
Harvest time Fruit is ripe when full sized and greenish yellow, in Autumn. Fruit falling on the ground means it is ready to pick the fruit. Pick the fruit by hand as it bruises easily, despite being hard.
Plant relatives Quinces are related to apples, pears, nashi fruit, and also to stone fruits like peaches and nectarines, plums, apricots and almonds.
Special features: In ancient Greek and Roman mythology the quince symbolises fertility, love and happiness. Quinces have been cultivated for thousands of years in the Middle East, in what was Persia, now called Iran.
Grown by method: Grafted Pot size:
Plant growing Height and Width for pots or in the ground planting: Grows to 2.5 metres high by 2 metres wide if Planted in a Pot. Grows 4 metres high by 4 metres wide if Planted in the Ground.
Shipping plant pot or planter bag size:
