Japanese quince

Photo: Katsudanso — CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Survives zone 5 through 8

Harvest calendar

Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.

Too hard, sour and astringent to eat raw, but aromatic and pectin-rich — sometimes called the 'northern lemon' for its use as a tart, floral substitute for lemon juice, and excellent cooked into jelly, jam or liqueur.

Hardiness

Zone 5–8

Habit

Shrub

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

Summer–autumn

Mature size

Low spreading shrub 0.6–1 m — the dwarf of the genus, and the one usually meant by 'japonica'

Light

Full sun to partial

Soil pH

6.0–7.0 (near-neutral)

Environment

Temperate

Native range

Japan, in hill scrub and woodland margins; widely grown across temperate gardens.

Status

Both wild and cultivated

Years to fruit

2–4 yrs

Growth speed

20–40 cm/year — medium.

Spacing

150 cm (59 in) apart — about 2.3 m² (24 sq ft) per plant

Leaf shape

Alternate, simple, oval to rounded, 3–5 cm long with a bluntly and coarsely toothed margin, glossy, on low spiny stems.

Root system

Shallow, fibrous and suckering, spreading into a dense thorny clump over time.

Fruit description

Rounded yellow pomes 3–4 cm across, very hard and intensely acid — inedible raw but fiercely aromatic, extremely high in vitamin C and pectin, and excellent cooked into jelly, cordial or a lemon substitute.

Propagation

Semi-ripe cuttings in summer, or division of rooted suckers. Seed needs about three months cold stratification but gives variable plants. ⚠ Raise two genetically distinct plants — cuttings off one bush are a single clone and cannot cross-pollinate.

Pollination

Partially self-fertile — better with a 2nd plant

The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.