Flowering Apricot And Quince

rlominski

So, I have a basic question:

What makes apricot (prunus mume) and quince bloom in the winter? I assume it is not temp (since it's still cold, duh!). What is it? All of my books say to let my mume go through a few frosts and then bring them into a warmer highly lit humid spot to enjoy the blossoms. (International Bonsai article).

If you don't bring them in do they just bloom in the spring like everything else?

Plus, once you bring them in and they bloom I assume you have to keep them in the house and you don't put them back into the cold.

Anybody who has experience with mume and quince have any words of wisdom?

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Kazuki

i always thought it was just the time of year they bloomed... just like how other plants bloom at certain times of the year.

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Kazuki

Jonny D

This is a complete geuss, but i assume that it will be a competion/natural selection thing, during the spring and summer months all the trees that flower are effectivley competing for the same insects so that the species of tree can reproduce, if a particular species flowers at a different time it has a strangle hold on the insects that are available (even if there arn't many around)and increases its chances of reproduction. This is likely the evolutionary reason and will be triggered by temps.

A complete geuss but fits with theories of evolution.

Jonny.

agraham

more than likely,it is a combination of chill hours(dormancy)..and day length......they bloom in early spring naturally...redbud is another tree that blooms before leafing out