(The Quince forms a thick bush and is generally not pruned, unless required to form standard fruit-bearing trees, when it should be trained up to a single stem till a height of 5 or 6 feet is attained.)

I was surprised when I saw the quince referred to as a tree. Lots of folks in my neighborhood where I grew up had quince bushes and we thought it was great fun to "borrow" some of those sour fruits to suck on. LOL

So I did some Googling and what I find is that in our nothern zones quinces don't grow as trees, they grow as bushes but you can train them to a short height if you prefer, as the cut and pasted statemnent above says.

Quince is used for dwarfing stock for grafted pears, etc, and you can read about that in the link I'm providing below.

As far as I know there are no known named cultivars so if I were you I'd look for just the standard quince that is sold and that would mimic what the Colonials grew since Quince is of ancient derivation.

The various ones that they say are lucious and all that are not ones that we can grow where we live here in the NE.

Perhaps someone in the fruit tree forum here, I don't know the name off hand, can give you more info about Quince in northern regions than I have.

Carolyn

Here is a link that might be useful: Quince

Carolyn, you may already know this, but there are two different unrelated plants called "quince": cydonia oblonga (or pyrus cydonia), which is normally grown for fruit, and chaenomeles, normally grown as an ornamental. Chaenomeles also produces edible fruit. Were the ones in your neighborhood growing up thorny?

Were the ones in your neighborhood growing up thorny?

Regina,

I was 65 in June.

Trying to go back over 50 years for a memory is almost impossible for me. All I remember is the bushes and the sour tasting yellow fruits; I have no memory of thorns, though, which doesn't say that much, I guess.

Carolyn

Happy belated birthday, Carolyn! (smile)

Anyway, Jonathan, looks like we're not much help. I second Carolyn's suggestion to ask at the Fruit and Orchards forum. There are folks there also who are knowledgeable about antique fruit varieties.

Are you a member of NAFEX? (North American Fruit Explorers) Sounds like it's right up your alley. You can actually join the listserv without joining the organization. Google it, I don't remember the url.

Edible Landscaping in Virginia has quince, just one variety - they don't say dwarf, just that it's small. Maybe others are calling it "dwarf" in comparison to other fruits, not in comparison to standard quince. Here is E.L.'s write-up:

"The quince, grown for its large, yellow fruits, should not be confused with the flowering quince, which is a completely different plant. The fruiting quince is a deciduous, 15', shrub-like tree with crooked branches. The fruit, which ripens in the fall, has delicious aroma, is used for desserts, jelly (one of the finest you ever tasted) and preserves. Trees grow in Zones 5-8. Self fruitful.

"Boyer's Quince: A large fruiting cultivar from PA, it's considered among the hardiest cultivars. Fruits have a pleasant spicy flavor when cooked. Trees are small (up to 12') and high yielding. Large white blossoms and self-fertile. Zones 5-8."

Here is a link that might be useful: Edible Landscaping