collected quince

rainyday

I transplanted this old quince last fall to a different place in my yard because the spot it used to occupy was being graded for some new landscaping. It was growing in a thicket along with some dogwoods, holly, and privet (I moved all these also). The quince sort of divided itself when it came out of the ground and I ended up with the two plants pictured here, which are actually connected by at least one thick root, plus two other clumps of similar size (not pictured). One of the plants pictured here has a large, bulbous base, but with reverse taper. I had become interested in bonsai at about the same time, and moved these plants with the intention of eventually bonsai-ing them. I chose to put them in the ground as opposed to a container because I thought they had a better chance of surviving the approaching winter there. Anyway, I'm seeing some new growth and was wondering if anyone had any advice about what I should do with them now. Does anyone have any experience transforming old, neglected quince into bonsai?

Attached Images

	quince #2a and 2b pic1 (2-22-06) edit.jpg (66.7 KB, 82 views)
	quince #2b pic2 (2-22-06)edit.jpg (54.4 KB, 95 views)
	quince #2a pic2 (2-22-06)edut.jpg (57.6 KB, 64 views)

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ozzerbon

G'day Rainyday,

Your pics are far too small, can you PLEASE enlarge them.

I am a Quince fanatic and maybe able to give you some advice, but your pics and my eyesight are not in harmony, in short I cannot see them clearly enough.

Regards,
ozzerbon

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fredtruck

This thread gives a pretty complete history of my experience with collected quince.

http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthread.php?t=16827

bwaynef

If you dug them last fall, you might want to pamper them this year. Maybe sometime this fall come by and shovel-chop the roots 6 inches or so from the trunk. Collect it again next spring and you may have some better roots and a better chance at survival.

Trunk chopping is a possibility before then, but it MAY weaken the tree. I'm not sure how vigorous quince are.

WF

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rainyday

Thanks for the quick replies, everyone.

ozzerbon - You're absolutely right about the pics being too small. That was my first post and I don't quite know what I'm doing yet. Hopefully I can figure it out and attach some bigger ones to this post.

fredtruck - I found your thread very helpful indeed. My experience has some things in common with yours in that I live in an old house (1897), so it is likely that my plant, like yours, has some age on it. I am not sure what species it is. People here seem to refer to it as simply 'japonica,' but it looks a lot like yours, so it may be a speciosa. The bulbous part of the stump I referred to is several inches in diameter, but I'm not sure how much of it is still alive, and due to the reverse taper underneath it I'm wondering if I planted it too high. At any rate, your detailed timeline gives me a good idea of what to expect over the next few years.

bwaynef - That sounds like good advice to me. Especially the idea of shovel chopping the roots six inches out. I originally took as big a rootball as possible (like fredtruck, I had a friend helping), so some in-ground rootpruning should help transition it to a pot eventually. But since two (or three, depending on how you count) of the plants are joined underground, I wasn't sure if there was some way to take advantage of that connection. If so, then perhaps I wouldn't want to chop that particular root.

Thanks again everyone, and I'd love to hear any additional thoughts,

rainyday

Attached Images

	quince #2b pic4 (2-22-06)edit.jpg (67.7 KB, 49 views)
	quince #2a and 2b pic1 (2-22-06) edit.jpg (72.8 KB, 32 views)
	quince #1 pic2 (2-22-06)edit.jpg (69.4 KB, 54 views)

ozzerbon

Howdy do Rainyday,

Ah now that's a tad better, next thing to know is exactly which of all the quinces is it, and please try to use the botanical name, Chaenomeles [?],
Japanese or Chinese?

BTW, never saw one so old as yours appears to be, so can you track it's age?

Regards,
Nigel

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rainyday

ozzerbon - Thanks for your interest. The truth is, I don't know for certain what kind of quince I have. Based on my limited (very) research, I think it is either Chaenomeles japonica or Chaenomeles speciosa. I'm getting the impression that Chaenomeles speciosa was the more commonly planted variety in my neck of the woods, but that's just a guess. I will try to get a close-up photo of the flower and perhaps you and others can help me with an i. d. based on that. As for its age, I'm afraid I'm similarly clueless. I have a few old pictures of my house dating as far back as the 1930's, but nothing detailed enough for me to see if this plant was there or not. I guess I could try to count growth rings at some point, but I haven't done that before. Advice?

-rainyday

rainyday

Here's a picture of the first flower that opened. Can anyone help me with a species i. d. based on this?

Thanks,
rainyday

Attached Images

quince #1 pic3 (2-28-06) edit.jpg (59.4 KB, 19 views)

Joanie

It's a quince.

Joanie

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