Quinces are a terrific little home garden tree, which are very hardy – will tolerate a wet soil, and also have some drought tolerance, making them a good tree for difficult areas. With a little bit of looking after (regular watering, pruning, fertilising) they will set a heavy crop of fruit, and when the fruit are ripening they send a very distinctive and tantalising aroma wafting around the garden, not to mention their very pretty ornamental flowers in Spring.

Quinces are primarily used for making jams and jellies, but they are also dried and made into cider, they make a delicious paste (suitable for cheese platters), stewed with custard they’re a terrific desert….need I go on.

Most of our quinces this year, (except Smyrna Large, and Champion Large), are offered on semi dwarfing rootstocks -they are grafted onto Quince A rootstocks, which yield a tree of about 2.5 – 3 metres height. They are very easy to keep pruned to a smaller size if desired, and will make a very good espalier as well. The Smyrna and Champion grow to larger trees – more like 3-4 metres.