Honorable Mention - Flowering Quince
Give this shrub a break!
If you have searched the internet to find out about the Flowering Quince shrub you may notice every site sounds like a broken record focusing on the negative. Firstly, we know nearly every plant we own has negatives so lets just get the "so-called" negatives out of the way.
The shrub has thorns. Well, so do roses and we know how much the world loves roses.
All the web-sites I visited seem to mimic each other saying the Quince collects debris in it's lower brances. Well so does our fence line and just about any other shrub out there if we aren't on top of things in our garden. If you are worried about getting pricked by a thorn, while removing debris, you can always purchase one of the extension "picker-uppers" for a few dollars at most any drug store. They are wonderful for walking around your property to pick up windblown trash.
Most all the web sites I visited all noted the foliage isn't anything outstanding. If you look around your garden there are many flowers that are not chosen because of their foliage and in fact we all have tulips that are short-lived and the foliage turns yellow and very unattractive which is a far worse senerio than our Flowering Quince. At least the foliage is green and although nothing show stopping, it certainly is far from an eye sore so if we can tolerate the yellowing tulip leaves we can certainly live with a bush that is green all spring, summer and fall.
And lastly, they all seem to care that the branches are a bit unruly but personally I find that charming and a plus to a natural looking garden.
So I say, forget about all the nay-sayers and do your garden a wonderful favor by adding the Flowering Quince. The show of flowers will add that element of suprise every garden should have in the Spring and give you that color when your Spring bulb flowers are all spent or in warmer climates, before you've seen a trace of color. And just as you do with your roses, use common sense and set them back a bit from main traffic paths or kid play areas or better yet, plant them as a hedge for security purposes.
The flower of the Quince has 5 pedals and are about 1 inch long as shown in the first photo to the right. The color of the flower can be red to red-orange, pink or white and there are some that have double flowers. The blooms continue for some time. In the photo below, you can see there are plenty of buds yet to open.
The leaves have a serrated margin, last photo to the right, and are alternately arranged.
The thorns are sharp, as all thorns tend to be as seen in the middle photo on the right.
Most Quince shrubs can grow around 6 feet tall, equal in width and bear a small fruit that can be made into jelly. The fruit packs a lot of vitamin C so if you love making preserves, this would be a healthy choice.
Planting and Care
The quince does well in most soil types except soil that is on the alkaline side. The pH range should be 3.7 to 7.0. If your soil borders on the alkaline side and you notice the leaves becoming pale or yellow, add plenty of organic matter.
Full sun is best for the Quince but will still do well in partial shade and should be planted in USDA Zones 4-9.
Every couple or few years, you should take a look your Quince and sparingly, cut away older branches after the blooming is over but I would not do a lot of pruning since it is an unruley bush to start with so enourage new growth at a slow pace.
As most plants, dig a hole that is as deep as the pot the plant came in and twice as wide and as all newly installed plants, water often as it's roots get established. You can mulch, especially as it is getting established, but use a mulch that doesn't get compacted, such as pine needles or bark chips. After the first year, you can pretty much forget about it as it does well in drought conditions. Just occasionally clear out the debris that may collect in the lower branches, as you do with other plantings, prune when you see a need and that's about it. Really, there is not much care needed for the Quince.
Kingdom: Plantae(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Subfamily: Amygdaloideae
Tribe: Maleae
Subtribe: Malinae
Genus:Chaenomeles speciosa