Flowering quince is often used to make jelly.....the problem is the plant is not always inclined to produce much of a crop so you would probably need more than one or two shrubs to reliably generate sufficient fruit for preserving. Of the ones I've grown, a single quince or two at the most was a typical crop for a single shrub. IOW, they are far more ornamental in purpose than fruitful :-) In my climate, the shrub is semi-evergreen - it produces no fall color to speak of. It also tends to be thorny, suckers freely, has no discernible fragrance and can be prone to fireblight in areas where that is an issue. And I also agree about planting in full or as much sun as you can manage. More sun = more fruit! Espaliering it is very possible and an excellent way to grow the shrub......some of the most attractive flowering quinces I've seen (and this is not a highly attractive shrub under the best of circumstances) have been those grown as an espalier. Here is a link that might be useful: chaenomeles as a fruit crop

It's an old argument, between those that don't see the point of bringing up old threads and those who don't have a problem with it. I am in the camp of not having a problem with it. Also I'd like to point out, that Houzz often places links to these old threads next to current threads and people click on them without realizing how old they are. That being said, I have to agree with GGal on the subject of natives. I was an organic garden 40 years ago, when few people knew what organic gardening was all about. Protecting, supporting and nurturing the ecology of your little garden corner of the world. And going along those lines, I also became very interested in growing native and started to buy a lot of them. 20 years Later, I still have many natives in my garden that have performed well, but I also have replaced or lost many others. Including two types of native trees that were expensive to lose. So my own personal experience supports each point that GGal made. It must be exciting to discover all the benefits that native plantings have in the wild and quite a project to devote yourself to replace everything in your garden with all natives. I would find it interesting to follow along with your progress and see how it all works out, so I hope you share your experiences in the forums. But… these statements that you made, provoke conflict. “…there is way better beneficial native shrubs that will offer pollen, nectar, sometimes fruits or seeds and can be a host plant for moths and butterflies which will feed baby birds.” Implying that non-native plants do not? “I could suggest some species but I need your state, it’s always better to plant for your region.” “Our pollinators and wildlife needs us, better add beneficial plants.” You sound like you are ready to set up your own seminar on natives right here in the forums and you are all ready to help us uninformed gardeners to get on board. Evidently you believe that you are doing the right thing for pollinators and wildlife and if we are not doing what you are doing then we are not. To say that ‘natives will ALWAYS be more beneficial in general’ That statement has been proven to be untrue by a number of people in these forum including myself. That’s a fact, not an opinion. We all want to support pollinators, but a native plant that won’t grow in your garden, does nothing for anyone. And there are many non native plants that provide what pollinators need. I’m always interested to hear about a new plant that someone is in love with and why. So any time you want to share how happy a plant is making you….do that. If you would just leave out the rest, it would be appreciated.

You might also try some Turkish or Russian quinces. About 3 weeks ago I received a 5-foot tall bare root Aromatnaya quince by mail from Raintree Nursery outside of Seattle. I planted it in a part sun area and it is already leafing out. Raintree says Aromatnaya has a "pineapple like flavor and is sweet enough to eat fresh". Raintree says it is hardy to Zones 5 thru 9. If you are interested in how it is progressing later this year, drop me an email. I also received from Raintree, Schizandra chinensis (Magnolia vine). Here in Louisiana, we have baystar vine (S. glabra) found in Tunica Hills Wildlife Management Area. Planted the S. chinensis also 3 weeks ago in a dense shade area under an overstory live oak and water oak next to a chainlength fence. So far it has been rapidly growing and has produced a few flowers. Hopefully it can take the extreme south Louisiana humidity as I can use a vigerous fruit producing vine in the shaded portions of my yard. The species will apparently thrive in either full sun or dense shade. Here is a link that might be useful: Raintree Nursery

I would recommend a redbud tree. They are SO beautiful, and no fruit to pick up. With the serviceberry, though, the fruits are small and indeed eaten by birds so those work well, too, although they aren't as pretty. How big do you want the tree to grow to in the end? Lilacs get pretty big and are almost tree size eventually. We have a magnolia tree that has gorgeous blooms in the spring, I am in SE WI, so it is something hardy up here. I've had flowering crab, also gorgeous, if you can find one that doesn't have fruit somehow. I would say off the top of my head that the landscaping company might rip you off, probably cheaper to just find a local nursery and pay them to plant the tree than have a middleman. Marcia