I live near the beaches in Toronto and would like to plant a quince tree for fruit. There is not a lot of variety around here. Which would you say is hardy to at least zone 5? I am zone 6a I believe. I contacted someone in Durham Region and he told me Quince don't survive there. I was baffled...he is a zone 5b. I can get my hands on three varieties...which should I choose: Cook's Jumbo Quince of Portugal Giant of Zagreb
Grimo's has both Cook's Jumbo and Quince of Portugal and they should work for you on your site. http://www.grimonut.com/catalog.php?catID=72 Cooke's Jumbo originated in Turkey and is rated to zone 5 it ripens in September. Portugal is is earlier but you will need a pollinator. Aromatnaya(Russia), Boyer, Havran, Kuganskaya, Lisle, Pineapple, Russian, Smyrna and Van Damen are other quince cultivars that are good in zone 5 or better. I saw the trees in the OKanagan valley in the Kelowna/Vernon area they seemed to do quite well there. I would put it in a protected spot in your area if you are in doubt. If you can grow peaches/apricots their you can grow quinces as well. Grimo's is you best source. The trees make wonderful preserves. Good luck
Thanks.. I grow a redhaven peach in the area I want to plant the quince. So you're saying Cook's Jumbo doesn't need a pollinator to get fruit? I would like to get my hands on a smyrna or aromatnaya but I would have to travel to the US. What would pollinate quince of portugal...is it more tastier than cook's jumbo?
Check with Grimo's they are a good company to deal with. Quince is fruit that you have to like in order to grow it. I used to prune a couple hundred trees in the Okanagan it wasn't something I would eat out of hand but lik i said it makes great preserves.
Quinces will grow where apricots do? I may be moving from Halifax (6a, or so they say... nobody takes into account excessive precipitation, a lot of grey days and foggy mornings in the summer) to Calgary soon, I think Calgary is 3b? I know apricots do grow there. What are the chances of growing quince in Calgary? Is there a cold hardy variety? My other thought: is there a bushier variety of cydonia that I could protect by weighing it to the ground, screening and mulching to withstand the Calgary winter? My grandparents' quinces flowered relatively late compared to other fruit trees, so I am hoping that a quince in Calgary would miss the late frosts that would damage the flowers? Cheers
Oh, and on quinces in southern Ontario, if we can grow them in Halifax with its poor, grey (and sometimes cool) summers, you can definitely grow them in the golden horseshoe. Quince do fine in Halifax, the problem is development of the fruit during the summer, some summers are fine with sun, others are constant downpours and drizzle. I think most summers (not all) we lack enough hot sunny days to grow a good size, healthy fruit. I also have a phenomenal problem with coddling moths and small black slugs climbing up the trunk to eat the leaves.
Quince were grown commercially for fruit in NY State and Pennsylvania up until a decade or so after WW II. I'm growing a variety called "pineapple quince" in my front yard on LI's North Shore (zone 5). I just have the one tree, and it's doing fine.
Quince is usually used as a dwarfing rootstock for pears. Quince are usually on their own roots. There is some work that has been done for rootstocks. Not sure if its available. I had a grower for a few years that grew half an acre. Intersting tree to work with. Wet Climate Gardener. Quinces wont survive the climate in Calgary`. Apricots will survive there but they are prairie hardy varieties that will tolerate zone 3 .
Perhaps but there is some indication of grafting to make a slightly dwarfed quince tree and at least one vendor in Ontario sells grafted stock.
Mike. There is research being done on dwarfing quince. Most of them are not available in Canada. It certainly is worth a try though. I 'm sure that it would work quite well. Grimo's has always had some neat material the big problem with obtaining material is plant quarantine laws. Cheers Kim Hope this link works http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/1924.pdf
I note that this thread is pretty old, but, just possibly people may still pick up on it. I am in maritime NS, (South Shore), zone 5b. I have a Portugal Quince, now in its 5'th leaf. Last year it produced 12 huge fruits weighing almost 1 lb each; this year we are up to 3 dozen. Just in passing, this tree is growing in a small orchard (180 trees) of mostly heritage apples, which are variably afflicted by every disease and pest in the book, (except AEM, which we don't have here), and the quinces have been immune to absolutely everything. They are supposed to be very sensitive to fireblight, but I have never had fireblight in my orchard. I note that it was suggested that Quince of Portugal needs a pollinator - not so. All quinces are self pollinating, and my tree is very productive all by its lonesome. Now, what I am after is whether anybody knows of a source of Meech's Prolific quince, (in Canada). Indeed, does anybody know of sources of quince propagating wood anywhere in Canada other than Ernie Grimo, (who, I note, seems to be down to a single cultivar - Giant of Zagreb). Note that I am looking for sources of scion wood, not grafted trees.
The quince named here as "Giant of Zagreb" has nothing to do with Zagreb and Croatia. The quince originate from Serbia, which is well known by several heritage varieties. This one is known as Vranye Quince ( Vranjanska dunja). It can grow up to 1.5 lb. It is a really good pollinator. Please google "Vranjanska dunja" for confirmation.