Hello, I recently purchased a house and when I was trimming the bushes this year I noticed this bush has apple like fruits. The bush does have small thorns or what I think of thorn as they do prick when you touch the branches. I was wondering if someone can help me identify they type of bush this is?
My first thought is WHEN did you take these photos? I am leaning to the quince ID too - that said, I don’t know if edible by humans Out here they are an old fashioned plant like lilacs They are handy as an evergreen background in our climate at the coast The flowers we have are an appealing deep pink in the spring - almost similar shape and size to the usual apple blossom (no surprise there) Be careful if and when you shear it (we do not shear ours - we do not like the look of “sheared” —— if there’s a branch that is “in our way” then we wait for it to be close to bloom and then safely hand cut it and put it in a large vase of water) Using the hand trim method, I sometimes “force” these out here on Vancouver area west coast in spring ——- Someone else needs to confirm here - does it bloom on old or new wood - this key question is the reason for timing and method of trim.
June 21st 2021 I am in NJ. it has not flowered in the time i been here and the previous owners is my in laws and they never noticed if it flowered. He also never noticed it had fruit.
Leaves indicate mystery is Chaenomeles. These are deciduous and produce red, pink, orange or white flowers.
I had forgotten til reading this how where we grew up near Vancouver in the rural farm areas - we called it “japonica” It’s very pretty and as this article (Link below) says - often marks where an old farmhouse used to be (lilacs and forsythia often found in these old gardens, too) Quince, Flowering (Japonica)
Circa 1910 gardens in my neighbourhood were planted with not only japonicas, lilacs and forsythias but also snowball bushes (Viburnum opulus), bridal wreath (Spirea vanhouettei), laburnum (Laburnum anagyroides), and cotoneaster (Cotoneaster horizontalis) and, the worst thing ever, knotweed (Polygonum ???).
Just for the record...an amateurs take on Cydonia oblonga. More tree like. Leaves tend to be quite large, flowers are solitary on the tip of a branch. Fruits are more pear shaped...very scented. Edible. a few pics below. See post below for Chaenomeles.
see above for Cydonia. Chaenomeles...common name Japanese quince is more of a very twiggy shrub...with thorns. Often pruned to shape. Flowers can be pink, white, red depending on the cultivar. Fruits seem to grow squashed in amongst the branches. Fruits edible...good for jams.
@Matthew Rogacki I restored your post that had been mistakenly deleted -- it's because the quoting was entangled with your replies.
Perhaps I missed the detail - is this in your own garden @Silver surfer ? I like the quince (japonica) against the white rustic wall ÉDIT to add that the one I know about on old rural properties nr Vanc BC is the deep coral pink blossom I have never seen the white or pale pink.
A couple of pics are my plants.....the white one is called Chaenomeles x superba JetTrail. "Chaenomeles x superba 'Jet Trail' - Google Search The others were seen in other peoples gardens. The pink and white one is Chaenomeles speciosa moerloosei chaenomeles speciosa moerloosei - Google Search I still want to find the peach coloured flowers to take pics of eg... Chaenomeles speciosa 'Mango Storm' They look wonderful trained on a wall. That one was found at Branklyn Garden Perth Scotland National trust Scotland..it is Chaenomeles superb Pink Lady.
