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Georgia Gardener

Flowering Quince

13 years ago

Hello,

I have a flowering quince (Chaenomeles species) that is loaded with fruit and I want to make jelly or jam with the fruit. Does anyone know when the fruit ripens in south Georgia? I've read some info on the internet that suggests that the fruit ripens in November, but that seems a little late for our area. Thanks for any info.

Susan

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Comments (4)

girlgroupgirl
13 years ago
Mine is looking close to ripe here in Atlanta, however we always picked them in Canada after a light frost had lit on them. This year with the heat and droughty last few weeks, I don't know if they can hang on that long! Are yours looking yellow with a slight blush on them?
aunt-tootie
Original Author
13 years ago
Most of mine are yellow on top side and green on bottom side. A very few have a slight blush. Do they ripen some after they are picked?
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My Toyo Nishiki is kind of unstoppable. I'd be surprised if you could keep it from suckering. I would plan on a lot of pruning and give it space. By the way my soil is slightly alkaline (7.1) and it's clealy fine. I think quinces are pretty bulletproof. It's also nice that it flowers a bit earlier than my apple trees... I like to think the bees get pumped up by the quince and then stay for the apples. :) However, if you're really into finding the best fruit I can't vouch for TN, as in truth I haven't eaten much quince, nor do I know how much fruit a "culinary" quince might produce. It is really pretty, though!
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I picked some from the ornamental/flowering quince in my neighborhood. I plan to try slicing them and cooking in sugar. I'll let you know how it turns out. I've made jelly from them. They have a unique flavor. The jar of quince jelly I bought at the grocery store in france just tasted like apple jelly to me, not at all like my homemade jelly. Of course, they used pectin and I didn't so their flavor would have been more dilute.
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Must be the luck of the draw. I seldom see fruit on ornamental quince bushes (Chaenomeles) in town. I did regularly have some smallish fruit on one of the Japanese varieties with coral-colored flowers some years back. Membrillo is typically made with quince fruit from a tree (Cydonia oblonga). If I didn't have my own tree, I wouldn't have far to go in the city to find more as there are quince trees every mile or so, the fruit stands out in October.
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im looking for tx red flowering quince. Prefer tall plants. I can dig them up for you.
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girlgroupgirl
13 years ago
We used to put them in a paper bag with an apple to get them to ripen more. Yours sound like they could use some more time. They will still be hard as rocks, which is why they get cooked.
aunt-tootie
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks GGG. I'll keep a close eye on them as they ripen some more on the shrub. The paper bag and apple tip is good to know in case the birds are scoping out the fruits too and I need to pick them earlier.

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