Hi all, first time here. I've been trying to identify this plant in my back yard for a while and haven't been able to yet. It gets beautiful pink flowers on it around April and grows fruit that looks similar to a small yellow delicious apple in the fall. This past year there were about 8 fruits on it which I threw up into the forest for the critters as they fell off, but the previous 2 years it only produced about 2-3 fruits. It also grows thorns! I hate trimming this tree/shrub because of those thorns and I always manage to catch one of them when I mow around it. I don't even know if it's considered a tree or a shrub. I'm considering removing the plant in a few seasons, along with all of the ivy that grows around it and replacing the whole area with a rock garden and possibly a fish pond. Can anybody identify this plant, tell me if it's a tree or shrub, and if it may be hardy enough to dig up and re-plant it near the edge of my property somewhere that I can still enjoy it, but not have the thorns in our heavily traveled patio area? Thanks!
It's a Flowering Quince, probably Chaenomeles speciosa judging by it's size. It's a multi stemmed shrub 6-10' tall and wide. The other common flowering quince, C. japonica tops out at <4'. Simon
It is indeed a flowering quince, and that's a lovely photo of its flower. But "multi-stemmed?" Smivies, you're far too kind. This is a suckering thug of the worst possible sort. I inherited one at this house, and as I began trimming it its footprint spread accordingly, to the point where I had (and still have, though I've long since removed the main shrub) suckers emerging some fifteen feet apart. Perhaps you'll be luckier, but removing this shrub has been a major nightmare for me as I cannot get at all of the root, and the root resprouts. Abundantly. It may vary from cultivar to cultivar, but I doubt it. I posted a question on Gardenweb's shrub forum about my problem with it, and a person responded who had a much worse problem than mine. If you look at these growing in unkempt yards or wild or park settings (here in Vancouver there is a boulevard planting) you will see their stems emerge out of a footprint the size of an average townhouse. Remove it sooner rather than later. I still grow it, but in a container. Never again in the ground, no matter how remote a location.
You stand a good chance of losing it if you dig it 'sooner than later' - now is NOT the time to dig anything, but either do it in ~a month when it's dormant (if it is by then), or else in spring when buds have appeared, and are close to opening.
If you are going to get rid of it just dig or pull it out - preferably with a machine - and discard it, since a replacement can be easily gotten at a nursery if you decide you would like another later. Starting over with a smaller specimen you could plant it near a wall and train it as an espalier, flowering quince are particularly good for this.
I don't see any reason not to dig anything at this time of year; in fact fall is great for planting and moving things. Only with sensitive things you want to give them a good bit of time to establish their roots before first frost. Plus, I don't envision any risk of 'losing' a quince - as I say I don't think you can kill these. By "sooner rather than later" I wasn't referring to the season anyway; I meant not to wait a few years more for the roots to get any further entrenched. One thing in favour of keeping it and moving it (rather than discarding) is that cultivars do vary as to colour, and if you particularly like this one then don't count on being able to get the exact same colour as a replacement. Save a piece of this one to replant.
Planting a healthy potted bush now is one thing, tearing up an established one (and cutting the roots) is another - very bad timing. To me, it's a beautiful shrub, common or not, and I'd definitely wait, but it's not mine, so...
