Chaenomeles or Japanese quince

Family Rosaceae. Name: translated from Greek "Chaenomeles" means "to split an apple".

Description: this genus includes 4 species known from China and Japan. Most often these are deciduous or semi-evergreen ornamental flowering shrubs with spines on the twigs. Dark green glossy leaves are arranged alternately. Particularly striking are the large brick-red or orange solitary flowers. The fruits resemble apples. They sit tightly on the branches.

In cultivation Chaenomeles grows best on fertile soils, in open sunny locations, and responds well to watering, especially during dry, hot summers. With good care the plants can live 60 to 80 years in one place. Chaenomeles is propagated by seeds (in autumn with freshly collected seed, in spring with stratified seed), by greenwood cuttings in summer, by division of the bush, and by layering.

Location: sunny open sites are better for Chaenomeles than shade, where they grow poorly. These plants are generally of medium winter hardiness; in very cold winters the tips of annual shoots may suffer frost damage. Therefore it is advisable to choose sites where snow accumulates in winter to protect against severe frosts (below -30 °C).

Soil: leaf mold, peat-compost and sand in a ratio of 2:2:1. When planting, add organic and mineral fertilizers: 10 kg of manure, 200 g of superphosphate, 30 g of potassium nitrate per planting hole. The best soils for Chaenomeles are light, well-moistened loams or sod-podzolic soils with a high organic matter content and a slightly acidic reaction (pH 5.5-6.0). Avoid strongly alkaline soils, on which the plants are severely affected by chlorosis.

Planting: when establishing plantings it is best to use two-year-old seedlings and to plant in early spring before bud break. Autumn planting is possible; in that case the seedlings should be heeled in. In a living hedge the distance between bushes should be no more than 0.5-1.0 m, and in regular plantings about 1.5 m. It is important not to deepen the root collar; it should remain at soil level.

Care: during the summer carry out three dressings: in spring scatter nitrogenous fertilizers around the bush, after flowering and after harvest apply liquid phosphorus and potassium fertilizers at a rate of 200-300 g per 10 L of water. Watering once a month is sufficient. Loosen the soil only when weeding. Mulch the soil around the bushes with peat, wood shavings or bark in a layer of 3-5 cm. Pruning is carried out once every 5-6 years, in summer after flowering; weakly developed, dry, broken, frost-damaged or old (over 5 years) branches are removed. On standard forms, shoots on the trunk below the graft are periodically removed. When preparing plants for winter, be sure to cover young seedlings with conifer branches. Standard-trained plants should be bent to the ground and covered.

Propagation: non-cultivar planting material of Chaenomeles is obtained mainly by sowing seeds. Although seeds retain viability for two years, the best results are achieved by autumn sowing of freshly collected seed. For spring sowing a 2-3 month stratification of seeds in moist sand at 0-3 °C is necessary. Interestingly, the fruits of wild species contain 50-80 seeds, whereas fruits of selected cultivars have 10 times fewer. The seeding rate is 4-5 g per 1 sq. m. Seedlings in their second year are pruned to stimulate growth.

To make seeds germinate at home, they need an artificial "winter". Remove the seeds from fruits harvested late in autumn or winter, place them in a container with moist soil, sprinkle a thin layer of the same moist soil on top, cover the container with a polyethylene bag with ventilation holes and put it in a cool place for a couple of months (at least until March). The lower shelf of a refrigerator is ideal for this; you can also place the container on a windowsill between frames. Some seeds may germinate already toward the end of stratification.

In spring take the container with stratified seeds out of the refrigerator, cover them with soil so that they end up at a depth of about 1 cm, cover with glass or a polyethylene bag and keep in a bright place at room temperature. With regular misting, you will hardly need to water the soil. First shoots will appear in about 3 weeks, however the germination period can often extend to 8 weeks, so be patient.

Of the vegetative methods of propagation the best is June green cuttings. In cold frames rooting reaches 70-90%. With well-developed mother plants, layering and root suckers are also possible for propagation.

Among the more complex methods of renewing Chaenomeles are spring grafting and summer budding, using as rootstocks, in addition to seedlings of Chaenomeles itself, pear, rowan, amelanchier, hawthorn and, in the southern zone, common quince. Grafting is sometimes done onto a high standard (1.0-1.5 m). Long pendulous shoots that form on standards are recommended to be supported with metal props. A trunk height of 1-1.5 m gives the greatest decorative effect. If you buy ready planting material, you can form a group of 3-5 plants by planting them on the south side of a building, in places that are warmer and sunnier.

Uses: these plants are used for creating low hedges and borders. However, standards deserve special attention when Chaenomeles are grafted onto wild pear or common rowan. In gardens they can be planted in small groups on lawns and on rockeries.

Chaenomeles seedlings can serve as dwarfing rootstocks for some pear cultivars, for apple, garden rowan and selected forms of hawthorn. In horticulture the compatibility of Chaenomeles with these species is widely used, and by grafting several species onto one trunk the decorative effect is enhanced. Thanks to this, for example, on one tree the pear may bloom first, then the hawthorn, and in late May–early June the Chaenomeles will blaze into flower for 2-3 weeks.

Companions: in garden compositions they combine well with forsythias, low-growing almonds, heathers, spireas and mahonias. Of course, other combinations are also possible.

How to obtain fruit: not only cultivar seedlings, but also seedlings of Chaenomeles enter into fruiting very early, in the 2nd-3rd year after planting. However, to obtain fruits it is necessary to provide for the planting of at least two to three different forms (cultivars or seedlings) of this species. The average yield from one bush is about 2 kg, and with good care can reach up to 5 kg. Main fruiting is concentrated on three-year-old branches, therefore a properly formed bush should have 10-15 scaffold branches of different ages: 3 to 5 one-year, 3-4 two-year, 3-4 three-year, 2-3 four- and five-year. Five-year-old fruiting shoots are cut out in the following spring. Also remove frost-damaged shoots, shoots that creep along the ground and those that grow vertically upward. In the latter case pruning is necessary because of the threat of frost damage to tall branches that do not get covered by snow. The most valuable Chaenomeles shoots are those that at a height of 10-40 cm take (or are given by bending) a horizontal position.

Many Chaenomeles cultivars branch well, so there is no need to severely shorten shoots. But if the forming scaffold creates gaps, then in June-July the shoots are shortened to the 4th-6th leaf. Second-order shoots that appear on these branches are again shortened the following spring to 2-3 buds, and already that spring the shortened twigs will bear inflorescences. The rule of double pruning allows you to constantly maintain a neat and abundantly flowering appearance.

Chaenomeles harvest ripens in September-October. It should be picked before frosts, otherwise the fruits will lose taste and aroma. Undamaged by frost fruits keep well at +2 °C and high humidity until February.