Fruiting Quince in Vancouver?

Discussion in 'Fruit and Nut Trees' started by Unregistered, Sep 5, 2005.

  1. I would like to find a fruiting quince tree, (I think it's Cydonia oblonga) but my local nurseries seem to think they are hard to get in this area as they don't do very well in Vancouver. Does anyone know if it's worth growing one In North Vancouver and if so, where can I get one?

    Thanks!
     
  2. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    I suggest you come have a look at the 4m tall specimen here at the UBC Food Garden (photo of the fruit). This plant is over twenty years old.

    As for sourcing it, perhaps a bit more difficult, but not impossible. VanDusen Garden carries seeds once in a while, but I think you might have to call around (unless someone else knows a source offhand).
     
  3. jimmyq

    jimmyq Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Cedar Rim nursery in Langley had them a few years ago, they may still have them available.
     
  4. A friend of ours lives in Queens Park New Westminster and her quince is loaded with fruit this year, It is abouit 3 meters across and tall. I guess this makes it a mature specimen.
     
  5. hmj

    hmj Member

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    Thanks for the encouraging info. I'll keep looking until I find one!
     
  6. i have a large quince with hundreds of fruit on it and lots of small new trees coming out of base wonder if they have any value other then good looks
     
  7. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

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  8. hmj

    hmj Member

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    Are you in the Vancouver area and if you are, would you be open to letting me take a cutting from your tree or maybe let me transplant one of the small trees you mentioned ?

    If you are, I would be happy to take a few dozen of your hundreds of fruits and make you some delicious Quince Jelly as payment!
     
  9. There are quince trees & shrubs growing in the boulevard east of Chesterfield on 6th ave in North Vancouver. I just collected about 30 quinces to make marmalade....there are still more fruits for the taking.
     
  10. hmj

    hmj Member

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    Thanks for the tip. We'll head down there asap!
     
  11. McNeil

    McNeil Member

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    Hi all,

    I live in Campbell River on Vancouver Island and I have a young quince tree which I planted in 2004 and last summer I had enough fruit to make 14 jars of jelly. I am moving to Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast and I will also be looking for another Quince Tree. I love this fruit tree as it does not need to be sprayed and even the silver furry leaves are nice to admire. Thank you for informing that Van Deusen Gardens has seed sometimes ( my son works there), but will the tree come true to form from seed . Thank you for any info.
     
  12. oscar

    oscar Active Member

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    i got 1 left, sorry cant post it to Canada :(

    Propagation
    sow seed of species in a seed bed in autumn.
    Green wood cuttings in early summer, semi-ripe cuttings in mid- or late summer.
    Hardwood cuttings in late autumn or early winter.
     
  13. dmurchie

    dmurchie Member

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    Last edited: Jun 12, 2006
  14. KarinL

    KarinL Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    My parents have had a quince tree in Vancouver for years; it bears well. But any discussion about Quince needs to differentiate between Cydonia, the fruiting quince tree, and Chaenomeles, the flowering "quince" shrub. The latter sometimes bears little fruits after its orange flowers, but it is not a significant fruit plant.

    I have grown Cydonia from seed (just buried a few of the fruits in fall) but am not sure, in response to the comment above, if it will produce a fruit-bearing tree. I think a new thread might be in order on that topic.
     
  15. MXB

    MXB Active Member

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    Don't bother buying one unless you have a large garden. Check out the directions given in one of the earlier posts on this thread to a site at Chesterfield and 6th in North Vancouver. The whole boulevard is full of quince trees and i collected 4 bucket loads off them last fall and made quince jelly. I didn't feel guilty taking so many as I barely scraped the horde that was just lying there.

    MXB
     
  16. Linda P

    Linda P Member

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    I just recently got a Cydonia oblonga "Le Bourgeot" at Gardenworks in South Burnaby (formerly Mandeville Nursery). My tree is about 7 ft tall. There were about half a dozen trees there. You could call them and see if they have any left.

    I can't wait until my tree is fruiting, probably not this year though.

    Linda
     
  17. KarinL

    KarinL Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    I finally found myself near 6th and Chesterfield this weekend and found the quince bushes mentioned above. Fortunately, it being fall, the bushes were bearing fruit. The bushes on 6th are not Cydonia quince (which are shown at left below) however. It seems to me that these bushes are Chaenomeles, the flowering quince, although they are not prickly that I was able to see on a quick inspection... but the leaves were pretty consistent. And they were bushes (footprint bigger than my yard - don't plant these at home kids) rather than the tree form of Cydonia. They were loaded with the fruits shown below at right.

    So do we call both these fruits "quince?"
     

    Attached Files:

  18. dmurchie

    dmurchie Member

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    The big fuzzy fruit are the real quinces (Cydonia) and is the only member of its [family] genus (family Rosaceae, Thanks Daniel.). The flowering quinces (g:Chaenomeles, family: Rosaceae) were once classified with the Cydonia quince trees. I think some Chaenomeles were called "Japonica", but the "flowering quince" name seems the norm now. Unfortunately the abundance of chaenomeles, and use of the name "quince" for the Chaeonomeles contributes to the under appreciation of quince tree and its fruit. (Even though gardeners in my family had both Chaenomeles and Cydonia, historical confusion resulted in growers of chaenomeles insisting their shrubs bore the same fruit as the trees.) (even though they looked quite different)

    I have never tried cooking with Chaeonomeles, so don't know who it compares with the real quince (cydonia)? Does anyone have any experience with both?
     
    Last edited: Nov 24, 2006
  19. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    You mean the only member of its genus.
     
  20. KarinL

    KarinL Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Just to add to the discussion of the difference between the two types of "quince" fruits, I found this in my files today, from an old communication with the VanDusen seed store in response to a comment I'd sent them in which I had made my ignorance of this information quite clear:

    "Like Apricot and peach pits, European Quince seeds contain cyanide... Most people know that they must never cook apricot or peach pits when making jam or jelly, but most do not know that this also applies to true quince seed.
    Although often called Flowering Quince, Chaenomeles japonica is a very different plant, and it is these fruit that most North Americans are familiar with, although the flavour of the fruit is nowhere near as rich and aromatic as that of the true quince. The seeds of the Flowering Quince are not particularly dangerous, and may be cooked with the fruit, but I still would not recommend doing so. Hope this clears things up for you. Sincerely, ... PlantExplorers.com"

    (Although I try to be careful about crediting other sources, I am also a little uncertain about the propriety of posting people's names on the internet without their permission so have included the website reference but have left the writer's name off this):
     
  21. NiftyNiall

    NiftyNiall Active Member 10 Years

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    At Finnies garden, on the Riverview Hospital grounds in Coquitlam we have two Cydonia oblonga "Le Bourgeot" ,( Unknown where they came from ) 10-12 feet tall, they have been there about 10 years, and fruit heavily one year,then take a rest the second with fewer fruits, they do tend to weigh the branches down when heavily set. We have had no problems with them except for splitting branches from the heavy fruit sets. The patients devour them, and they tell us that they microwave them, and that they taste great when done this way. I have used both types of "Quinces" for their flavour and pectin content in jam making with no problems yet, just remove the seeds as soon as you can. The flowering Quinces, add a particular scent to the jam,jelly which is very similiar to the scent,(taste) of the evergreen cut-leaf blackberry, which I find it compliments. If you start turning blue,(cyanosis) you probably left the seeds in to long! The cyanic compounds do degrade somewhat through the heating processes.
     
  22. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    This article might be of interest if you're reading this thread:

    Quest for Quince from the USDA Agriculture Research Service
     

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