North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Louis Pittman <lpittman@murraystate.edu>]

I'll second Richard Moyer's recommendation for Chaenomeles.  I grew up
eating them out of hand (yeah, I'm THAT tough! lol) with just a liberal
sprinkiling of salt.
But, I've also split them, removed the seeds, and baked them, just like
C.oblonga - and they're good.  I have no doubt that they'd also make a good
'quince' jelly or marmalade.
But, they may not be well-received by all.

My grandmother had a particularly productive little 'Japanese quince'
(C.japonica, I'm sure) shrub in one of the flower beds in front of her
house, and at the converted army barracks next door where my aunts/uncles
all started housekeeping early in their marriages, and later, male cousins
lived while attending college at Auburn.
Wish I'd gotten a 'start' of it, but I didn't, and it's now gone.

Have started collecting a few Chaenomeles in the last few years, just
'cause I like them.  Toyo Nishiki, on the strength of recommendations of
Richard and my friend Donna Hudson,  Have been seeing several selections
offered at the big box stores recently... as ornamentals, but don't
underestimate their potential as a fruit producer as well.  Have noticed
that the grounds' folks on campus at Murray St. U. have made extensive  use
of Chaenomeles in flower beds in common areas around the campus - several
different color blooms - ranging from white to yellow to peach to the more
typical red & orange.  If I'm there at the right time, I can usually fill
my pockets with mostly perfect fruits - that I'm certain virtually no
students or faculty members would ever consider eating.
Hmm.  I bought a couple of seedling Chaenomeles selections from Ken Asmus,
at OIKOS Tree Crops a couple of years ago... but for the life of me, I
don't know what I did with them.

I'd be willing to give Pseudocydonia another try... not sure that there are
any named selections.  It is a handsome plant with multiple season
landscape interest... and photos I've seen of the fruits look like they're
larger than the typical oblonga fruits.

Lucky


On Sat, May 21, 2016 at 9:21 PM, Richard Moyer <ramoyer@gmail.com> wrote:

> Betsy,
> After observing a neighborhood C. oblonga die from fireblight, have noticed
> many neighborhood Chaenomeles (Japanese Flowering Quince) in NE TN and SW
> VA which are not affected by rust or fireblight.  And we have LOTS of rust
> fruiting on cedars this year.
>
> Not to be splitting hairs, but Cedar-Quince Rust is distinct from
> Cedar-Apple Rust and Cedar-Hawthorn rust, though all three use pome fruit
> as alternate hosts.  See
>
> http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/help-for-the-home-gardener/advice-tips-resources/pests-and-problems/diseases/rusts/cedar-quince-rust.aspx
>
> But my main point is that since 1992, we have been gathering and making
> quince juice, sauce, guava-like paste and quince drops (like gumdrops) from
> this pectin rich fruit.  Have read there are over 150 aromatic compounds in
> the juice; some pastry chefs have been having fun with ours.
>
> At this link is a summary of this group of quinces and work ongoing in
> Europe to evaluate Chaenomeles up to 2002.  I suspect some of this is still
> going on, and some cultivars may have been released now.
> Note the culinary uses listed therein:
> https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ncnu02/pdf/rumpunen.pdf
>
> So Betsy, you could try some Chaenomeles.  Cultivars I like are 'Spitfire'
> and 'Toyo Nishiki'.  I like the latter for the large size of the both the
> mature bush and it's fruit.  These are rated Zone 5, though they sucker so
> freely from the base I imagine they would survive with snow cover or
> mulch.  But then there is the drying winds affecting flower buds, as has
> been noted.  Not as much of an issue in the upper SE, with out generally
> wet winters.
>
> For what it's worth, after trialing 25 fruiting genera at our original 2
> acre site, Chaenomeles is one of the few genera we introduced when moving
> to our farm 8 years ago.
>
> But there still are plenty of 'flowering quince' bushes as foundation
> plants at older homes, in the counties where I live in S. Appalachia.
> And the fruit is readily shared by the owners upon request each fall, and
> few anymore know what to do with it.  Though some remember elders their
> families making jelly.  Have transplanted suckers from some of those plants
> upon request, so with observation you may be able to identify some which
> are blight and rust resistant in your area, and ask to dig some starts.
> Said otherwise, there likely are some resistant quince already thriving in
> your area; others have already done the fruit exploration, probably more
> for ornamental reasons.
>
> Granted, Chaenomeles differs from Cydonia, so may not be a fit for you.
> But we enjoy working with the fruits we can grow, over striving for the
> fruits that don't work here (so far).
>
> I should shout out to Hector and Susie Black and clan, Lee Reich, Mike
> McConkey, Lucky Pittman and other NAFEXers for broadening my horizons of
> 'what fruits here', leading to culinary adventures.  Creative chefs also
> like the challenge.
>
> Thankful now for our spring rain, and for a few peaches looking good so far
> this year.
> Richard Moyer
> SW VA
>
>
> On 5/21/2016 9:42 AM, Anton Callaway wrote:
> > Betsy,
> >
> > I've been growing quinces for a few decades, but have just about given up
> because of rust.  If you can't wipe out all the red cedar trees within a 10
> mile radius (that's an exaggeration), then you will have problems with
> rust.  My last ditch effort was to bring in a 'Lisle's Special' quince,
> which was purported to be resistant to rust.  It is not.  I took out the
> tree last year.  The only quince I have remaining is a seedling of Lisle's
> Special.  It is also showing a lot of rust.  I expect it will be yanked
> out, too in a few years.
> >
> > Sorry for the bad news.  I love the fruit also.
> >
> > Lester Davis gave me a quince-like tree a few years ago.  It is certainly
> not C. oblonga, but the fruit is similar in flavor.  It gets rust, but not
> so severely that I want to remove it.  It also has a wonderful fragrance
> akin to the C. oblonga fruit from my grandmother's yard and the exfoliating
> bark is quite ornamental.  You might contact him for more information.
> >
> > Best regards,
> >
> > Anton
> > Piedmont region of NC, near RTP
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Elizabeth Hilborn <ehilborn@mebtel.net>
> >> Sent: May 17, 2016 8:38 PM
> >> To: mailing list at ibiblio - Northamerican Allied Fruit Experimenters <
> nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
> >> Subject: [nafex] My poor young quince
> >>
> >> I have never tried growing Cydonia oblonga before as we have severe fire
> >> blight here. However, a site opened up with good ventilation and first
> >> AM sun. I love the fruit so I bought a tree. It arrived in our warm
> >> early spring, I was able to protect it from the late freezes. It was
> >> vigorous and put out at least 10 inches of new growth with healthy
> leaves.
> >>
> >> Now, although it has escaped fire blight, it is suffering extensively
> > >from rust. The apical meristem is brown and necrotic, each leaf is at
> >> least somewhat deformed and every petiole is swelling with future
> >> fruiting bodies. One petiole has already started releasing spores.
> >>
> >> I feel like I have staked a goat out in a tiger infested jungle.
> >>
> >> So, does anyone have experience with this? Is this young tree destined
> >> to die a long, protracted death, or can it survive this severe rust
> >> infection?  I would rather rip the quince out if it is a hopeless cause
> >> for survival. This IS a bad rust year, my apples are suffering too - not
> >> every year is so bad....
> >>
> >>
> >> Betsy Hilborn
> >> 7a Central NC
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