Plant · P-375

Quince

Cydonia oblonga

Quince produces a big, fragrant golden pome loaded with pectin - the classic base for jelly, preserves, paste and membrillo, and enough on its own to set a batch of mixed fruit jam. Unlike most pome fruit, it actually needs a warm summer to fully ripen: where summers run warm the fruit can be eaten raw, but under cooler summers it stays hard and sour and only works cooked. It suckers freely into a thicket when young, which makes a good low hedge if left alone or a single trunk if the suckers are pulled, and it needs a second plant nearby for pollination since it is not self-fertile.